Bishops support Season of Creation

The Season of Creation, on Sept. 1 through to the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 4, has the wholehearted support of Canada’s bishops, said Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesperson Lisa Gall.

“Canada’s bishops remain steadfastly committed to encouraging the care of creation and our common home,” Gall wrote in an email.

On Aug. 27, the CCCB tweeted out a link to a one-paragraph statement informing Canadian Catholics that “The celebration calls on the global Christian community to promote prayer and action to protect our common home.”

The statement links to the ecumenical Season of Creation website, www.seasonofcreation.org.

The Season of Creation traces its origins back to the Orthodox Church and the initiative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In 2015 it was endorsed by Pope Francis and its observance has grown steadily since then. It begins each year on Sept. 1 with the World Day of Prayer for Creation.

The Canadian bishops have emphasized the ecumenical in their own efforts to support the Pope’s teaching on the environment, Gall said. She pointed to the Roman Catholic-United Church Dialogue’s joint report on climate change in 2019 and a 2017 ecumenical prayer vigil prepared by the Roman Catholic-United Church Dialogue in support of International Earth Hour.

“The CCCB remains always in deep communion with Pope Francis’ teaching on this crucial social justice issue and wholeheartedly embraces his entire magisterium and all the life-giving initiatives that flow from it,” Gall said.

This year’s theme for the Season of Creation is “A home for all? Renewing the oikos of God.”

Oikos is the biblical Greek word for a household or home. Season of Creation organizers have adopted the image of Abraham’s tent as a kind of central symbol for this year’s month-long celebration of care for creation.

“The tent can also be present in liturgies or events throughout the Season of Creation as a symbol of the community’s intention to create a home for all,” said Season of Creation organizers in a release.

Parishes, schools and communities are urged to participate in the Season of Creation through prayer, sustainability projects and advocacy. The Season of Creation website has suggestions for organizing an ecumenical prayer service, local clean-up projects and ways to campaign for divestment from fossil fuels.

The Movement Laudato Si Movement - Canada is organizing Healthy People Healthy Planet petition signing events (www.thecatholicpetition.org).

“Our common home and common family are suffering. The climate emergency is causing rising seas, a warmer planet and more extreme weather. It’s devastating the lives of our poorest sisters and brothers,” reads the prologue to the petition. “At the same time, biologists estimate that we’re driving species to extinction at a rate of 100 to 1,000 times their usual rate. We have no such right” (Laudato Si’ 33).

The petition will be presented to world leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Nov. 1 to 12 — a meeting Pope Francis plans to attend.