{"id":114701,"date":"2025-07-11T10:42:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T08:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=114701"},"modified":"2025-07-11T10:42:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T08:42:51","slug":"leo-xiv-conversion-and-courage-to-oppose-the-destruction-of-our-common-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/leo-xiv-conversion-and-courage-to-oppose-the-destruction-of-our-common-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo XIV: Conversion and courage to oppose the destruction of our common home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Leo XIV celebrates the first Mass for the Care of Creation at the <\/span>Laudato si\u2019 Village<\/span><\/i> in Castel Gandolfo, and urges Christians to embrace our mission to bring peace and reconciliation to our world and all creation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust a few days after beginning his summer holidays in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first Mass for the Care of Creation\u201d, a new formulary of the Roman Missal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mass took place at the <\/span>Laudato si\u2019 Village<\/span><\/i>, an educational center located in the Papal summer residence near Rome, and was attended by the center\u2019s staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

In off-the-cuff remarks at the start of his homily, the Holy Father said the Mass was being celebrated surrounded by beauty in \u201ca kind of \u2018natural\u2019 cathedral\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

He noted that the layout of the Laudato Si\u2019 Village, which has an altar in the front and a water basin nearby, recalls the ancient Christian churches, which placed the baptismal font near the entrance to symbolize that Christians have passed through water to be cleansed of our sins and weaknesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Leo lamented the many natural disasters that afflict people around the world, which are \u201coften caused\u2014at least in part\u2014by human excess and our way of life\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe must also pray for the conversion of many people, both inside and outside the Church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for our common home\u201d, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning to the prepared text of his homily, Pope Leo XIV noted the tranquil setting of the <\/span>Laudato si\u2019 Village<\/span><\/i> stands in contrast to the global warming and armed conflicts that afflict our world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYet, at the heart of the Jubilee we confess: there is hope!\u201d he said. \u201cWe have encountered it in Jesus, the Savior of the world. He still, sovereignly, calms the storm\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflecting on Jesus\u2019 calming of the storm on the sea, the Pope said Jesus\u2019 parables of the Kingdom of God frequently pick up the rhythms of life and seasons inherent in nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

In rebuking the wind and sea, Jesus \u201creveals His power of life and salvation, which towers over those forces before which creatures are lost\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Leo said our mission as Christians to care for creation was entrusted to us by the Lord, so that we might bring peace and reconciliation to our troubled world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear the cry of the earth and of the poor\u201d, he said, \u201cfor that cry has reached the heart of God. Our indignation is His indignation; our work is His work\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Church is called, therefore, to speak truth to nations in order to turn evil into good, injustice into justice, and greed into communion, since the Church bears witness to the \u201cindestructible covenant between Creator and creatures\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

He recalled St. Francis of Assisi\u2019s focus on God\u2019s love for all of creation, which gives everything life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a contemplative gaze can change our relationship with created things and lead us out of the ecological crisis caused by the rupture of relationships\u2014with God, with our neighbor, and with the earth\u2014resulting from sin\u201d, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Leo XIV said Pope Francis wanted the <\/span>Laudato si\u2019 Village<\/span><\/i> to be \u201ca laboratory\u201d in which to embody harmony with creation, while finding new ways to safeguard nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, Pope Leo invited Christians to spread harmony throughout the world, drawing inspiration from St. Augustine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cO Lord, your works praise you so that we may love you, and we love you so that your works may praise you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

* Article published in Vatican News. By Devin Watkins. Photo: Vatican Media.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":114697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3386,3367],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-see","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114701"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114703,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114701\/revisions\/114703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}