For "Peace with Creation," believers around the world are praying during this year' “Season of Creation”, united in celebration and working together as one Ecumenical family, striving with hearts filled with hope to preserve creation and thus contribute to the path of peace.

This peace has been longed for since decades, as countries around the world work to achieve it through various means and methods. Ecumenical activists in the Middle East and around the world are also making efforts to achieve this desired goal via studying and environmental action. This is achieved through studying the Bible and delving into the Teachings of Jesus Christ, as well as implementing environmental activities aimed at protecting our common home.

The “Season of Creation” best expresses these environmental initiatives called for by Church and Ecumenical Leaders around the world, so that we may assume an effective responsibility towards God's creation.

International Appeals

In a world burdened by wars, conflicts, and disputes, religious leaders are calling this year for serious and urgent action to listen to the voice of creation and heal its wounds, especially as it is threatened by human activities that could lead it to the abyss.

The 2025 “Season of Creation” Guide, which the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has translated into Arabic as each year, documents the appeals and statements of many international Religious and Ecumenical figures.

His Holiness the Late Pope Francis said: “As sacred Scripture teaches, the earth is the Lord’s and all of us dwell in it as “aliens and tenants” (Lev 25:23). If we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to remedying the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts, and feeding the hungry.”

For his part, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I indicates that "We cannot and should not hope to address climate change without working closely with one another. As we have repeatedly stated, ‘we are all in the same boat.’ Creation care is a collective mandate and responsibility."

A Christian Environmental History

In fact, the environmental issue constitutes a joint responsibility and a fundamental human duty for building healthy and righteous societies. Therefore, the "Season of Creation" comes annually to sound the alarm bell and remind the people of the earth of the importance of caring for the environment and the creation, particularly based on the Christian Faith and environmental Theology.

How far back are the roots of the "Season of Creation"? And how did it begin? Several dates bear international Christian environmental milestones!

The beginning was in 1989, when His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I declared September 1 a Day of Prayer for Creation in the Orthodox Church. In 2006, this day was adopted by many major European Churches through the European Christian Environmental Network.

In 2015, His Holiness the Late Pope Francis established the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church, and in 2019, he invited the faithful to celebrate the Ecumenical Season of Creation.

In recent years, many Churches have begun to celebrate the "Season of Creation," also known as the "Creation Time," annually between September 1 and October 4, the Feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of ecology.

It is worth noting that many international parties have called on believers in statements they issued to commit to the "Season of Creation," such as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in 2003, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007, and the World Council of Churches in 2008. As well as, the Anglican Communion passed a resolution in 2012.

Indeed, the "Season of Creation" unites believers around the world in an annual Christian environmental Season, bearing this year the theme “Peace with Creation” and the symbol of “Garden of Peace”, inspired by Isaiah 32: 14-18.

Let us pray together with one heart and say with great hope: “Beloved Christ, who spoke “Shalom” to frightened hearts, stir us to compassionate action. Inspire us to work for the end of conflict, and for the full restoration of broken relationships— with you, with the Ecumenical community, with the human family, and with all Creation”. (from the Prayer of the “Season of Creation” 2025)