Pope Leo: War fuels a ‘vicious cycle’ of environmental destruction

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV connected the exploitation of the environment to the proliferation of war, calling for a spiritual and ecological transformation in a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation released Thursday (Aug. 20).

“Today, we are witnessing many crises and much human suffering,” the pope wrote , while “at the same time, it seems that the disruption to the harmonious balance of creation is accelerating.”

“These phenomena are not unrelated; they are a single plea for healing and peace arising from a wounded world,” he wrote.

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, celebrated Sept. 1, is supported by the World Council of Churches and invites all Christians to pray and enact measures for the protection of the Earth.

Leo’s message was inspired by the prophet Isaiah (2:4), who imagined a day when resources would be used for agriculture and sustaining life instead of war. “But today, we too often witness the very opposite, as efforts continue to be directed toward violence and war,” he wrote.

The pope has made peace a central aspect of his papacy, repeatedly making appeals for reconciliation and dialogue among nations. In his…