Christian communities around the world are preparing to celebrate Season of Creation 2024 from September 1 to October 4 with the hope that every action has significant value in creation. From East Timor to the United States, Christian churches are uniting in prayer and action.
On September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will mark the beginning of the Season of Creation, an annual period of prayer and action for creation, culminating on October 4 with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This period has become a much-anticipated part of the calendar year in many Christian communities.
Saving the planet from the climate crisis is urgent and ‘’the whole of creation is caught up in this process‘’, Pope Francis writes in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. “To hope and act with creation, then, means above all to join forces and to walk together with all men and women of good will. In this way, we can help to rethink, “among other things, the question of human power, its meaning and its limits”, the Pope continues.
Bishops around the world have also spoken out on the Season of Creation, encouraging their communities to participate and take action. The messages have resonated among bishops’ conferences around the world: from Italy, Ireland and Spain, through to the United States, to East Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. In particular, the Bishops of Spain point out in their message for this time that each person is “called to care for the natural home, but without considering themselves as the absolute centre of the universe.”
The opening event of Season of Creation 2024 will be an online prayer service on Sunday, September 1, where religious leaders from different Christian denominations will offer prayers of intercession to give thanks for creation. Throughout the month, there will be various events: most notably, the events focusing on taking action around fossil fuels, and the closing prayer on the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. Full details of the events can be found here.
Christian communities around the world will celebrate this period, especially in Timor Leste, where Pope Francis will visit from September 9 to 11 and launch the ‘One Tree for the Pope’ campaign. As part of this campaign and the Season of Creation, East Timorese citizens will offer the Pope a tree to honour and thank him for his commitment to environmental stewardship.
Similarly, from Venice, Italy, with a Creation Festival, to New Jersey, USA, with an international rosary of creation prayer and various talks, from the UK, with climate pilgrimages, to Newcastle West, Australia, with various more talks on the topic of care for creation, and in many more corners of the world, communities are already taking action.
The message of the Pope and other world religious leaders, as well as resources for action, can be found here. In addition, other helpful materials for the promotion of the Season of Creation can be found under this link.
The Season of Creation is an ecumenical period of prayer and action for creation, celebrated from Sept 1 to Oct 4 each year. Its theme this year is ‘to hope and act with creation’, and the motto is ‘the first fruits of hope’, inspired by St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. During this time, communities around the world come together to reflect on the importance of caring for the planet and taking concrete action towards its conservation.