Pope celebrates first 'green Mass' using new rite in sign of strong ecological focus

Pope Leo XIV celebrated on Wednesday what has been dubbed the first “green” papal Mass, using a new set of prayers imploring care for God's creation in a sign he intends to emphasize environmental stewardship and climate justice for the world’s most vulnerable people.

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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.

The private Mass was celebrated for the Laudato Si center, named for Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical, in which the first pope from the Global South blasted the way wealthy countries and multinational corporations had exploited the Earth and its most vulnerable people for profit.

Leo approved the new Mass formula “for the care of creation,” directing it to be added to the list of 49 Masses that have been developed over centuries for a specific need or occasion. Officials said it was crafted in response to requests stemming from Francis’ encyclical, which has inspired a whole church movement and foundation to educate, advocate and sensitize the world to the biblically mandated call to care for nature.