By Vatican News staff writer

In his Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (released on Thursday 25 May ahead of the 2023 celebration on 1 September) Pope Francis chose the theme “Let Justice and Peace Flow,” inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” The Pope begins by noting that, “God wants justice to reign; it is as essential to our life as God’s children made in his likeness as water is essential for our physical survival.”

Pope Francis first instituted the September 1st World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in 2015, serving as a way to encourage the faithful around the world to pray for our common home. The annual day also marks the beginning of an ecumenical outreach bringing Christians to pray and work together in what is called the Season of Creation which lasts till 4 October, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The origins of the day also go back to Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios who proclaimed September 1 as Creation Day for the Orthodox in 1989, followed by other Christian European Churches in 2001, and by Pope Francis in 2015.