Pope Francis said he had been
inspired by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of
the world's Orthodox Christians, who have been praying for the
environment on that date since the late 1980s.
"The
celebration of this Day, on the same date as the Orthodox Church, will
be a valuable opportunity to bear witness to our growing communion with
our Orthodox brothers and sisters," the Pope said.
"We
live at a time when all Christians are faced with the same decisive
challenges, to which we must respond together, in order to be more
credible and effective."
The
prayer day "will offer individual believers and communities a fitting
opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of
creation" and reflect upon "the adoption of appropriate lifestyles," the
letter said.
Francis has become a leading defender of the environment, particularly in the fight against climate change.
He
published an environmental encyclical earlier this year which denounced
exploitation of the poor and waste of the planet's resources.
He is due to address the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September.
That
gathering comes amid efforts to forge a worldwide deal on climate
change in Paris in December, with the aim of limiting global warming to
two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-creates-global-prayer-day-care-creation-184825421.html
