Pope Francis emphasizes humanity’s sacred responsibility to protect the environment, highlighting that God’s creation of the natural world was intended for our benefit and well-being.
He underscores that our stewardship of the earth stems from a profound sense of love and care for creation.
The Holy Father said this during his speech to advance preparation for the the world day of prayer for creation which holds annually on 1 September; initiated by the Pope in 2015.
Pope Francis urged Christian faithful to imbibe love for all that God created adding that protection of the environment which is inhabited by humans should also stem from within a charitable cause.
The faithful, should bear witness to their faith in part, says Pope Francis, “by caring for the flesh of suffering humanity.” Adding that Christianity recognizes that “everything is ordered to the glory of God,” and in line with Christian communal life and peaceful coexistence; mankind owes a duty to care for creation.
The Holy Father also emphasized that the Holy Spirit “guides us and calls us to conversion.” And “to a change in lifestyle in order to resist the degradation of our environment and to engage in that social critique which is above all a witness to the real possibility of change.”
“To hope and act with creation, then, means to live an incarnational faith, one that can enter into the suffering and hope-filled ‘flesh’ of others, by sharing in the expectation of the bodily resurrection to which believers are predestined in Christ the Lord, “Pope Francis said.
“Our lives can become a song of love for God, for humanity, with and for creation, and find their fullness in holiness,” by inculcating this obligation, he added.
The theme for the 2024 day of prayer is “Hope and Act with Creation,” with the topic taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
At its inception in 2015, Pope Francis said the day provides an opportunity for gratitude to God for the gift of creation which He entrusted to “our care” as well as ask for pardon for the sins committed against the world habited by man.
TWE Media Network 
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