The Holy Father’s Universal Prayer Intention for April 2015 is:
“That people may learn to respect creation and care for it as a gift of God.”

We come together in this coming Easter Season to celebrate creation and our communion in the Body of Christ. In April 2015 we would like to invite your parish community to join Pope Francis’ universal prayer intention for creation and prepare for his upcoming encyclical on ecology and climate change. Our concern for creation is above all a concern for life and what is life-giving.

This concern for creation is especially urgent in this time of climate change. There is a strong scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human action and will very likely have catastrophic consequences if not addressed. Climate change is here and now, affecting all countries, but the poor and those without reserves suffer the most. Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have spoken of the urgent need for action
on this moral issue (see Catholic teachings on climate change: bit.ly/PopesClimate).

The invitation to your parish is twofold:

1. INVITATION TO PRAY:

As Christians we believe in the power of prayer, so we encourage you to include the Holy Father’s prayer intention (“That people may learn to respect creation and care for it as a gift of God”) into your community’s liturgy throughout April. Also, you can find several resources with a Care for Creation focus attached to this letter and online at bit.ly/care4creationmonth, that you could incorporate into the prayer life of your parish:
Rosary meditations, Holy Hour meditations, litany to the Holy Trinity, daily meditations, etc.

2. INVITATION TO ACT:

Pope Francis told us: “On climate change there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical imperative to act.” So we have prepared a Catholic petition addressed to the world leaders who will meet in a U.N. Climate Summit at Paris in December 2015, to urge them to commit to ambitious, pro-life action and solve the urgent climate crisis. We hope that you can join us in promoting the petition within your parishioners. Instructions are available online at bit.ly/catholicpetition

As Catholics we choose respect for life, and we are called to turn from how we have caused damage to ourselves, others, and creation, to realize how we have missed the mark and inadvertently caused death or destruction, and to make life-giving choices. We ask forgiveness, reconcile and recommit ourselves to life so to begin again. We lift our voices for life and creation, now and in the future, with our faith in Resurrection.

Please visit bit.ly/care4creationmonth for more information and resources, such as posters and petition forms to print and promote in your parish.

Thanks and God bless you,
The Global Catholic Climate Movement

Note: the Global Catholic Climate Movement is an international network of almost 100 Catholic organizations working on the climate change issue, to care for God’s creation, for the poor –who are the most vulnerable to climate disruption–, and for our children –who will face the worst impacts in the coming years–. For more info: http://www.CatholicClimateMovement.global