Caring for Creation: Looking Back at the Catholic Church’s Ecological Efforts this September

Ella Bradshaw

Staff Writer

The Catholic Church recognizes the month of September as the Season of Creation, dedicated to repairing humanity’s relationship with its Creator and His works and making efforts to reform our dialogue about environmental stewardship. The Season of Creation begins on Sept. 1, recognized as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on Oct. 4 on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Each year, the Season of Creation has a new theme. 2025 was titled “Peace With Creation” and connects to the Biblical passage of Isaiah 32:14-18.

The Laudato Si Movement describes how, “Isaiah paints a stark image of a world wounded by human injustice, a creation crying out for peace. This vision resonates deeply with us: our planet is suffering, and yet, we believe in the promise of renewal and restoration. Our call is to be active agents of change—praying, acting, and transforming our way of living in communion with creation and the Creator.”

This source also introduces a description for the 2025 symbol of the Season of Creation as the Garden of Peace, illustrated by a dove carrying an olive branch.

It reads, “Just as Noah’s dove returned with a sign of renewal after the flood (Genesis 6:13), we too seek a world where peace flourishes as we reach out to each other and connect with all creation. We invite you to incorporate the symbol in all the activities, celebrations and events that you plan for this year.”

The term “Creation” holds utmost importance to Catholic theology. The book of Genesis details God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, paying attention to all of His works and creatures.

Creation not only explains the origins of our world, but also serves as a form of divine revelation, telling us about the nature of an all-powerful and all-knowing God who loves His creations wholeheartedly and personally.

According to the website for the Season of Creation, “Often, when we speak of creation, it is related to nature, animals, landscapes, the sun, the moon, but rarely do we become aware that the human being is the culmination of the Father’s creative work…he is not only a creator God, but a loving Father who tenderly cares for the work of his hands and has a vision of fraternity for all humanity.”

The website also reads, “Accordingly, the Season of Creation is a celebration that allows all people to recognize ourselves as ‘the work of the Lord’s creative act,’ to contemplate nature and all that dwells in it, and to care for our Common Home. It is necessary for all believers to join in the celebration of the Season of Creation…and it is urgent that as a Church we implement concrete actions towards care and preservation.”

One of the Vatican’s most influential works concerning creation and its preservation was Pope Francis’s “Laudato Si”, an Ecumenical Letter titled “On Care for our Common Home” from 2015.

Vatican News describes how “…this encyclical letter was the first ever written by a Pope on the subject of the environment—and it went on to make waves both inside and outside the Church…” The work had an impact on policy and is often credited as helping with building consensus leading up to the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. 196 countries had signed a treaty pledging to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

Doctor Rachel M. Coleman, an Assistant Professor of Theology at Assumption, shared a personal reflection on the Season of Creation and the impact of the Laudato Si movement. She said,  “The Season of Creation asks us to reflect on what it means to live in the world: do we pay attention to reality and all things in it, or do we just treat everything in creation as if it only exists for my purposes? … Paying attention to the order of creation means that we pay more attention to our place within that order—that is, that we are creatures who are given a world to take care of. … ‘Laudato Sí’ asks us to be aware of the gift that we have been given and care for creation by acting responsibly toward each other and the rest of the created world.”

Professor Coleman is teaching a section of THE-255: Creation and Ecology this semester, a course she designed. She shared, “Creation and Ecology is one of my favorite courses to teach… because it’s meant to force students to think very deeply about the everyday things we encounter in the world. We tend to think of knowledge and understanding as something ‘out there,’ but they are simply about the world. If we stop to observe and reflect on the everyday things of reality, we’ll be able to understand very deeply.”

Her course includes a reading of “Laudato Si” and invites students to ponder about the Season of Creation on a long-term scale through the immersion of faith and reason in the classroom setting.

The late Pope Francis called for reformed thinking about human beings and their relationships with society and nature, presenting modern environmental issues as both a social and theological crisis. He argued, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental,” and reminds us that, “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”

Pope Francis’s efforts towards the protection of creation contribute to his legacy of leading by humility, inclusivity, and conquering the hurdles of modernity against the faith.

Elected by the conclave last Spring, Pope Leo XIV has continued Pope Francis’s movement by speaking about the importance of creation this September.

The Catholic Register reported on Pope Leo’s prayer intention for this month, describing, “Pope Leo prays to God: ‘Help us to discover your presence in all creation, so that, in fully recognizing it, we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home where you invite us to care for, respect and protect life in all its forms and possibilities’…Marking the day of prayer ‘is more important and urgent than ever,’ Pope Leo said, adding that the theme, ‘Seeds of Peace and Hope’ will be contemplated throughout the Season of Creation.”

The Season of Creation ends on Oct. 4th. This is the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology and the environment, animals, peace, poverty, humility, and merchants.

According to the Learn Religions website, “St. Francis of Assisi (c. 1181–Oct. 3, 1226) is the Roman Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals, merchants, and ecology. He abandoned a life of luxury after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and to live in poverty.”

Saint Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan order and famously wrote “The Canticle of the Creatures,” a lyrical prayer appreciating creation.

Catholic Review highlights how this year, “The Franciscan order is celebrating the 800th anniversary of ‘The Canticle of the Creatures’ throughout 2025…Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for September is for ‘our relationship with all of creation.’ ‘Let us pray that, inspired by St. Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.’”

Saint Francis of Assisi’s feast day is often celebrated by the iconic blessing of the animals tradition, as well as outdoor masses and nature walks, and ecological and peace initiatives.

Doctor and Father Roger Corriveau, another Assistant Professor of Theology, Catholic Priest, and member of the Augustinians of the Assumption, reflected on the Season of Creation, reminding us about our responsibility for change. “God is not the being that so many imagine as hovering above this massive universe of ours… rather, it is this universe that exists within God! … One of the inevitable consequences of mining and drilling our earth… has been the pollution of our atmosphere that has become deleterious to the overall life of the humanity we all share. … We have now developed technologies that can harness the inexhaustible sources of energy… wind, water and sunlight… without ever being diminished and not producing pollution of our atmosphere.”

He added, “When Pope Francis wrote his encyclical ‘Laudato Sì,’ he was challenging us finally to abandon our old technologies with their harmful side-effects… and to embrace and harness the never-exhaustible gifts that flow over the surface of our earth. Insisting on using and even expanding them as a matter of public policy today has become ‘a sinful refusal of accepting God’s gift to us.’ ‘Today, we can consider their digging and drilling as raping the Earth God has given us as nurturing Mother.’And if this Mother Earth is within God, . . . well, you draw your own conclusions!”

The dedicated works of historical church fathers, like Saint Francis of Assisi, continued through modern leaders like Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, can serve as reminders of people’s duty to protect and preserving God’s creations, the planet, and each other.