2022 Month for Protecting All Life A Message from the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan L […]
A Message from the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan
Listening to the voice of creation
Christian denominations around the world have set September 1 to October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, as the Season of Creation, calling on us to pray for and protect the home we share. The Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development calls on the Catholic Church to join in this ecumenical activity every year. The Church in Japan does so as the Month for Protecting All Life.
The theme of this year’s Season of Creation, taken from Psalm 19:1-4, is Listening to the Voice of Creation.
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.
We are called to listen to the cry of creation and the poor who “do not speak, cannot speak, and have no voices.” What kind of voices do you hear where you live? Are there voices that have been crushed by social oppression? I pray that during this period we will be able to “restore the various levels of ecological equilibrium, establishing harmony within ourselves, with others, with nature and other living creatures, and with God” (Laudato Si’, 210) while doing the small things that we can do around us.
Japan’s bishops have been considering how the Church in Japan might engage in the integral ecology advocated by Laudato Si’. At present, a pamphlet is being prepared to show the direction of this orientation, and at the Extraordinary General Assembly of Bishops in July this year a new desk was set up in the Bishops’ Conference to promote ecological initiatives. In cooperation with each diocese and Catholic-related organization, we will promote environmental initiatives not only as a social issue, but also as an effort for Christians to live in harmony communally, spiritually, and socially with God, nature, and others. We ask for your cooperation.