The Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, also spoke about the event, affirming: " It is a shared conviction that, in our time, the natural environment is threatened like never before in the history of humankind." While progress has provided great benefits on the one hand, it can also prove destructive if used improperly. For this reason, as Bartholomew I stated: "The protection of the common good, of the integrity of the natural environment, is the common responsibility of all inhabitants of the earth."
However, even though many individuals have shown their commitment to ecology, nations have not been able to make especially effective decisions for the good of the environment.
Pope Francis, in the encyclical "Laudato Sì", stressed that: "The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. The Creator does not abandon us; He never forsakes His loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home." (Laudato sì, 13).
In the Message for the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis also expresses his joy for the many initiatives, at the local level, for our Common Home and for the poor. This promises to be a year full of activity in families, parishes, dioceses, schools and universities.
“We rejoice too that faith communities are coming together to create a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. We are particularly happy that the Season of Creation is becoming a truly ecumenical initiative. Let us continue to grow in the awareness that we all live in a common home as members of a single family,” writes Pope Francis in the Message for the World Day for the Care of Creation.
Attention to ecology and the creation of a sustainable future for young people will be among the guidelines that the Rector Major will give to the Congregation for the next six-year term, 2020-2026.
