"Vatican steps up battle against climate change, especially since it can dramatically harm the “most vulnerable” people."
"VATICAN CITY -- As record‑breaking heat scorches much of Europe — with triple‑digit temperatures, wildfires and deaths reported — the Vatican released a new liturgy Thursday for Mass reflecting concern for the environment, offering prayers, readings and hymns that highlight the church’s responsibility to protect the Earth.
This new Mass “can be used to ask God for the ability to care for creation,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development, said at a news conference.
The new Mass, Pro Custodia Creationis (For the Care of Creation), was initially ordered by Pope Francis, who made the environment a major theme of his papacy and the subject of his second encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,” in 2015.
Pope Leo XIV has signaled that creation care will be a key area of interest for him as well and a point of continuity between Leo and his predecessors on social issues, especially the environment. Leo will celebrate the new Mass privately Wednesday at the Borgo Laudato Si’, an eco-village Francis commissioned in the gardens of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo."
Claire Giangravé reports for the Religion News Service July 4, 2025.
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