Overview
- The Vatican released Pope Leo XIV’s Message for the 11th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on August 20, setting the observance theme from Isaiah 2:4 about turning swords into plowshares.
- The Message says war “leaves wounds that extend far beyond the battlefield,” causing deaths, family separation and mass displacement that deepen social injustice.
- Pope Leo links armed conflict to environmental harm, saying fighting and exploitation create a vicious cycle that destroys ecosystems, contaminates water and air, and undermines food security.
- He calls for a ‘conversion of heart’ and urges redirecting energies and funds now spent on weapons toward integral human development, poverty relief and reconciliation.
- The Message frames its appeal in established Church teaching, citing Gaudium et Spes, Benedict XVI and Laudato Si’ to place ecological stewardship and peace at the center of Catholic moral witness.