During this season we are encouraged to pray and engage in community events in order to deepen our relationship with our God, our neighbour and the earth we share.
The Season of Creation is an annual celebration uniting Christians in prayer and action for the protection of our common home. The idea of celebrating 1 September as a day of prayer for creation began at the wish of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios in 1989, and was endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015. The season runs from September 1 to October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
During this season we are encouraged to pray and engage in community events in order to deepen our relationship with our God, our neighbour and the earth we share, being ever more attentive to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
Writing about the season in 2019 Pope Francis said, “this is the season for letting our prayer be inspired anew,” a season “to reflect on our lifestyles,” and a season “for undertaking prophetic actions … calling for courageous decisions … directing the planet towards life, not death.”
The theme for 2023 is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and the symbol is “A Mighty River”. This year we are called to “join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity”.
During the Season of Creation, please consider using the following:
Global Healing and Global Caring
Global Healing and Global Caring are free film-based resources to help us to respond to the damage being done to our planet – our common home. It is for parishes, groups and individuals and aims to engage you with Pope Francis’ vital call to care for our common home.
Season of Creation 2023 Celebration Guide
A guide from the organisers of Season of Creation to teach you about the season and help you plan for and celebrate it. You can visit seasonofcreation.org for more materials.
Novena to St Francis
CAFOD produced a series of nine brief reflections asking for St Francis of Assisi to pray for us and our world, based on his Canticle of the Sun.
Individuals
During Lent in 2018, Bishop John Arnold used his pastoral letter to challenge all parishes and schools in the Diocese of Salford to make practical responses dealing with climate change. A handout with practical suggestions was also made available at the back of all churches.
A Catholic Season of Creation – Sundays of September (Year A, 2023)
“A Catholic Season of Creation” resource explores the Sunday scripture readings to help us find the voice of the earth as the voice of the Holy Spirit. Our common Sunday worship is an easy place to start seeing the natural world in God’s plan of Salvation in Jesus Christ by linking the insights of ecology with Scripture. (Produced by: St Columbans Mission Society)
| Date & Time | Event |
| September 1, 3:00pm – 4:00pm CEST | SOC Opening Prayer Service |
| September 7, 9:00am – 12:00pm BMT | LATAM Symposium for the care of our common home |
| September 12, 8:00am – 5:00pm CEST | Oceania-Pacific Symposium for the care of our common home |
| September 21, All Day | Faith and the Future: Empowering Environmental Stewardship through the FFNPT |
| September 30, All Day | Together – Gathering of the People of God |
| October 4, All Day | SOC Closing Prayer Service |
Webinar exploring the Call of Creation and how we can protect our common home.
