"Living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to a life of virtue." Pope Leo XIV holds first 'green mass' with profound message for followers: 'The care of creation' first appeared on The Cool Down.

Pope Leo XIV is also enacting a plan to build a solar farm that would make Vatican City the world’s first carbon-neutral state. View on euronews

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV prayed Wednesday for the world to recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and “hear the cry of the poor,” as he celebrated the first papal Mass using a new set of prayers and readings inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental legacy.

We should pray for the conversion of many people, in and outside of the Church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for creation,” the pope said.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Care of Creation on the grounds of the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 9, 2025. In his homily, the pope called for ecological conversion while drawing from the legacy of Pope Francis and his encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." (CNS photo/Cristian Gennari, pool)

Pope Leo XIV celebrated what has been dubbed as the first ‘green’ papal Mass, using a new set of prayers imploring care for God’s creation in a sign he intends to emphasise environmental stewardship and climate justice.

We must pray for the conversion of many people, inside and outside of the church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for our common home,” Pope Leo XIV said while celebrating a new formulary of the Mass “for the care of creation.

The Mass, in the gardens of the Vatican’s new ecological educational center at the papal summer estate in Castel Gandolfo, indicated a strong line of ecological continuity with Pope Francis , who made environmental protection a hallmark of his pontificate.