Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first ‘green mass’ at the Vatican on Wednesday, using new prayers dedicated to caring for God’s creation. The mass was held in the gardens of the new eco-education centre at the Vatican’s summer estate in Castel Gandolfo and confirmed the continuity of the Holy See’s environmental policy, imposed by Pope Francis, who has made environmental protection a central element of his papacy, Euronews reported.
The private mass was celebrated at the Laudato Si Centre, named after Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical in which the first pope from the Global South sharply criticised wealthy countries and multinational corporations for exploiting the planet and the most vulnerable communities for profit. Leo XIV approved the new liturgical formula “for the care of creation” and ordered it to be added to the list of 49 liturgies celebrated for specific occasions and needs throughout the centuries. The liturgy is the most central act of worship in Catholicism, commemorating the Last Supper.
The Vatican explained that the new liturgy was created at the insistence of believers and clergy, inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si, which launched a church movement and foundation with the mission of educating, encouraging and reminding about the biblical commandment to care for nature.
Leo XIV, the first American pope in history, has already given clear signals that he intends to continue Francis’ environmental work. As a long-time missionary in Peru, he has seen firsthand the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable communities and has already spoken out about the need for climate justice, especially for indigenous peoples.
In a message for the annual Day of Prayer for Creation, Leo condemned “the injustice, the violations of international law, the trampling on the rights of peoples, the enormous inequalities and the greed that lead to deforestation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity.” He pointed out without hesitation the cause of this: “climate change caused by human activity.”
“We are still unable to recognize that the destruction of nature does not affect everyone in the same way. When justice and peace are trampled upon, the poor, the marginalized and the excluded suffer the most,” he wrote in the message published last week.
Leo XIV celebrated the Mass on the first day of his vacation in Castel Gandolfo, a hill town overlooking Lake Albano, south of Rome. He arrived on Sunday and will stay for two weeks before leaving for the Vatican before returning there again in August.
In another sign of his commitment to the environment, Leo XIV announced that he intends to implement one of Francis’ most ambitious eco-projects: the construction of a 430-hectare solar park in northern Rome, which would provide all of the Vatican’s electricity and make it the world’s first carbon-neutral state.
The project will require an investment of nearly 100 million euros and must be approved by the Italian parliament, as the site has extraterritorial status. Last year, Pope Francis tasked a commission of Vatican officials with preparing a project to develop the Santa Maria di Galleria site, which has long been controversial because of electromagnetic waves from Vatican Radio’s radio towers.
Leo XIV visited the site in June and called it a “wonderful opportunity.” In an interview with Italian television RAI, he said that the creation of such a park would “set an extremely important example: we are all aware of the effects of climate change and we must truly care for all of creation – as Pope Francis taught us so clearly.”
