Pope Leo XIV Holds First “Green” Mass

Pope Leo XIV recently celebrated what is being referred to as the first “Green” Pope Mass after visiting a 135-acre summer palace in Castel Gandolfo, located south of Rome. This event precedes his planned six-week holiday.

On Wednesday, a private mass will include a new series of prayers focused on caring for God’s creation. During this service, Leo aims to emphasize “environmental management and climate justice for the most vulnerable people around the globe.”

As he addresses climate issues, the newly elected leader of the Catholic Church is taking cues from his predecessor.

The mass took place at the Laudato Si Center, named after Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical. Here, the first pope from the global South criticized how wealthy nations and corporations have exploited the planet and marginalized populations.

Pope Leo has approved a new mass formula dedicated “to the care of creation,” which will be added to a list of 49 masses established over centuries to address various needs. Church officials indicated that this initiative stems from the requests following Francis’ encyclical, which inspired a movement focused on educating and mobilizing people to heed the biblical call to care for nature.

Being the first American pope, Leo has expressed his commitment to advancing the ecological initiatives initiated by Francis.

In a message for the Church’s annual day of prayer for creation, Leo denounced “injustice, violations of international law, people’s rights, serious inequality, and the greed that fuels deforestation, pollution, and biodiversity loss.”

He specifically pointed to “climate change caused by human activity,” making it clear that certain actions and groups are responsible.

“It still seems we cannot recognize that the destruction of nature does not affect everyone equally. When justice and peace are disregarded, those who suffer most are the poor, the marginalized, and the excluded,” he shared last week.