“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is 2:4) is the theme of Pope Leo XIV’s Message for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, published in the Bulletin of the Holy See.
The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will be on 1 September, thus beginning the Ecumenical Season of Creation, which will conclude on 4 October, the liturgical feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.
The Holy Father’s Message highlights the connection between armed conflict and environmental degradation. Such degradation constitutes both a serious violation of our duty to care for creation, as well as a long-term threat to the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
In his Message, the Holy Father explains that “the interaction between armed conflicts and environmental degradation often creates a vicious cycle, which destroys ecosystems, contaminates essential resources, such as air and water, and undermines food security. This fuels poverty, inequality, and new social tensions that can contribute to the emergence of further conflicts.”
“What is more,” the Pontiff continues, “war creates wounds that damage the whole fabric of life” and “reveals a deeper failure to live in God’s image and likeness, to respect life and to care for the earth entrusted to us.”
While underscoring political responsibility in the face of armed conflicts and environmental crises, Pope Leo XIV states that “the wounds of war and the degradation of the earth, then, are profoundly linked to the condition of the human heart,” and are therefore “an ethical and cultural crisis, including the loss of a sense of limits, the desire for domination, the pursuit of immediate profit, and the inability to recognize the God-given dignity of each human person.”
Thus, the Holy Father calls for “a deeper personal and collective conversion”—a renewal of hearts that opens up new possibilities, emphasising that “the prophetic call to ‘beat swords into plowshares (Is 2:4) is therefore not only a vision for nations, but a call to each person.” For every person, “is the path of authentic ecological conversion, where the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in our relationship with the world around us.”
