Bishop Martin’s Statement on 2026 Season of Creation

As we begin the Season of Creation 2026 tomorrow, Tuesday, 1 September, I wish to draw your attention to:

  • the message of Pope Leo XIV for the 11th Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 1;
  • the 2026 Season of Creation liturgical resources, and,
  • the celebration of Mass for Season of Creation to be broadcast on RTÉ 1 Television on Sunday 6 September 2026 at 11.00am, from the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim, Cavan in the Diocese of Kilmore.

In his message for tomorrow, 1 September, Pope Leo calls us to appreciate the gift of life amid suffering that is itself a plea for healing and peace which we believe flows from the enduring love of Christ. 

Consistent in his advocacy for peace, Pope Leo alerts us to the terror of war arising from the contradictory desires within us.  Such internal turmoil results in social and ecological destruction to create wounds that require healing.  Pope Leo invites us to ‘transform harm into life’ in accordance with the prophetic call to “beat swords into ploughshares” (Is 2:4).  In the spirit of the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality 2, he guides us towards a path of conversion and with Laudato Si’ on Care for our Common Home 3 in mind, directs us to ecological conversion which can only happen in an encounter with Jesus Christ.  We rely therefore, on God, as proclaimed in the Gospel of next Sunday, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, where Jesus reminds us, ‘for where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them’ (Mt.18:20).  Pope Leo concludes that its only with God’s help that we can courageously seek peace and the care of creation. 

Our Season of Creation resources for 2026 available on the Irish Catholic Bishops’ website at https://www.catholicbishops.ie/laudato-si/season-of-creation-2026/ include:

  • liturgical materials for each Sunday of the Season of Creation;
  • the text of Mass for the Care of Creation for weekdays, ad experimentum, which Pope Leo will celebrate tomorrow; and,
  • the Season of Creation 2026 Prayer which lifts us to an appreciation of the gift of water in accord with the Season of Creation scriptural theme of ‘living water’ (Ez. 47:9,12).

Also, the Season of Creation website, https://seasonofcreation.org/resources/ offers a varied multiplicity of scriptural, liturgical and reflective resources drawn together by the Ecumenical Season of Creation Steering Committee for use throughout the weeks ahead to conclude with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on 4 October 2026.

Finally, the celebration of Mass for Season of Creation will to be broadcast on RTÉ 1 Television next Sunday, 6 September 2026 at 11.00am from the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim, Cavan.  Representatives of parishes from throughout Kilmore Diocese involved in Laudato Si’ projects including the 30% Return to Nature of church grounds by 2030 initiative and the Kilmore Care of Creation volunteers will participate in the liturgy.  The chief celebrant will be Bishop of Kilmore, Bishop Martin Hayes, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Laudato Si’ Coordinator. 

“The challenges identified in Laudato Si’ are in fact even more relevant today than they were ten years ago. These challenges are of a social and political nature, but first and foremost of a spiritual nature: they call for conversion.”4

ENDS

  • Bishop Martin Hayes is Bishop of Kilmore and the Bishops’  Laudato Si’ Coordinator

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  1 Message of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV for the 11th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2026, 1 September 2026.
  2His Holiness, Pope Francis, ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission’ Final Document, XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Saint Pauls Publishing, 2025.
 3Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Pope Francis entitled Laudato Si’ on Care for our Common Home, 2015, para 21.
 4Address of the Holy Father Leo XIV to the participants in the ‘Raising Hope’ Conference on the 10th Anniversary of the Encyclical Laudato Si’, Mariapolis Center, Castle Gandolfo, 1st October 2025.