The event will take place on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 7.30 p.m. (Italian time) in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome (Italy). A video link from Jerusalem with Cardinal Pizzaballa is also planned. Follow the live broadcast here.
Violence – even verbal violence – seems to be increasingly characteristic of our age. On social media, divisions go viral and create even more hatred, accentuate polarization and shut the door on dialogue. It is not easy to break out of this cycle. Phil lives in Tucson, Arizona, and Laura is from Boston. Politically, they are on opposite sides, but they share the charism of unity and a commitment to living the Gospel every day. Here they recount how they have experienced that not only words, but also sincere listening can open gaps in the walls of the most stubborn convictions.
Activate subtitles and select language
I don’t know if this has ever happened to you but sometimes, after a large forest fire, when everything is burnt, bare, covered in ash, lifeless, you can spot a small plant sprouting – right there, where everything seemed dead. When I notice this, I feel something beautiful: where life seemed to have ended, nature is stronger. It grows, triumphs, lives, even when it seems impossible. It is in those moments that I understand how wonderful it is to live on a planet capable of regenerating itself, despite its wounds.
But for how much longer will it be able to do so?
On 2nd July, the Message of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the X World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation which will be celebrated on Monday, September 1, 2025 was published. It is entitled Seeds of Peace and Hope. What a splendid legacy Francis left us with his Encyclical Laudato Sì published ten years ago: so current, important and precious. And I find it very beautiful that Pope Leo takes up this legacy by highlighting the month dedicated to the Care of Creation (1st September-4th October), which begins with this day of prayer.
But what does this Message actually declare?
Returning to the example of the forest fire, Leo XIV reminds us that, “Seeds are buried in the earth, and there, to our wonder, life springs up, even in the most unexpected places, pointing to the promise of new beginnings”. Then he addresses us, inhabitants of this world, reminding us that “in Christ we too are seeds”. Not only that, but “seeds of Peace and Hope”.
This is a strong and clear invitation to live the ecumenical initiative of the “Season of Creation” from 1st September-4th October. It is a month of initiatives to invent, prepare and implement so as to pay every more attention to the care of our “common home”, which we all inhabit, regardless of our differences. Pope Leo says, “Together with prayer, determination and concrete actions are necessary if this “caress of God” is to become visible to our world”. Further on he says, “we seem incapable of recognizing that the destruction of nature does not affect everyone in the same way. When justice and peace are trampled underfoot, those who are most hurt are the poor, the marginalized and the excluded. (…)By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope”.
Everyone is called to participate: individually or in groups, in associations, organizations, companies… why not? Each with their own ideas, their own commitment.
In his Message, Pope Leo XIV writes: “The Encyclical Laudato Sì has now guided the Catholic Church and many people of good will for ten years. May it continue to inspire us and may integral ecology be increasingly accepted as the right path to follow. In this way, seeds of hope will multiply, to be “tilled and kept” by the grace of our great and unfailing Hope, who is the risen Christ”.
And what does the Pope do? He begins himself by promoting these initiatives first. He established, for the first time in the history of the Church, a “Mass for the Care of Creation”, made official through the Decree on the Mass pro custodia creationis. Pope Leo XIV used this new form already on 9th July, 2025 during a private Eucharist that he celebrated at the Borgo Laudato Sì, during his stay at Castel Gandolfo (Rome). From now on, anyone can ask to celebrate a Mass with this intention, to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us: in our daily choices, in public policies, in prayer, in worship and in the way we inhabit the world.
The title Seeds of Peace and Hope today appears as a disarming prophecy. Perhaps they are the only two words that, in this dark time for humanity, continue to make sense. They are words that allow us to start again, to sow and to believe that that fresh grass will continue to grow even where the land seems scorched and dead. Actions like these make me understand that all the Churches do not change their minds about the essential questions for the life of humanity. And above all, that they do not stop thinking about the future of the new generations.
Maria De Gregorio
Photo: © Pixabay
The international ensemble Gen Verde has launched a new album which includes previously unreleased songs, new musical pieces, re-arranged tracks and some of the songs that have been released in recent years.
“Everything Speaks about You – Prayer in Music” is the title of the new album by the band born from the Charism of Unity of the Focolare Movement.
“Everything speaks to us about God: the beauty of nature that surrounds us, the that air we breathe, the people passing by, the joys and the difficulties, the moments of great happiness but also those of darkness and pain which Jesus took upon himself on the cross. This album is the result of a deep experience for Gen Verde. Every note, every word and every silence intends to express their relationship with God, the heart of all that Gen Verde is and does”, these are the words that describe the album and summarise the motive and soul of the work.
Nancy Uelmen (United States), singer, pianist and composer of Gen Verde says: “As Chiara Lubich, the founder of Focolare, says: ‘Prayer: it is the breath of the soul, the oxygen of our whole spiritual life, the expression of our love for God, the fuel for everything we do’ (Chiara Lubich, Seeking the things above). So we would like to invite everyone to take an inner journey together, guided by each track on the album, hoping that it can be an instrument of prayer in music, as it is for us.”
How did the idea for this album come about?
“For us, more than an album, it is a very special experience – Nancy emphasizes – because we wanted to go to the heart of what Gen Verde is does. It’s what inspires our music: our relationship with God. We therefore wanted to create an album about prayer and music, through songs and some instrumental pieces, to express our heart and everything that we are and do. The idea is to go on an inner journey: each track expresses an aspect of the relationship that can be lived with God and with each other. As the title states, we can find God anywhere – in nature, in our neighbours, in our own hearts – so this album is like a journey that can help us discover this presence. It is the result of an experience which is central for us”.
Gen Verde is based in Loppiano, the little town of the Focolare near Florence (Italy) and is made up of twenty focolarine from 14 different countries. They are a mix of internationality, a constant training ground in loving the culture, traditions and diverse types of music that characterise team members. For over 50 years the band has travelled around the world to give witness that peace, fraternity, dialogue and unity are possible. Now, with this new project, the journey is within each one of us to rediscover ourselves, God and others.
The album was released on 6th June on all digital platforms (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon music, Deezer, Tidal). The physical album, which contains a booklet with the words of the songs and also meditations to help with prayer, isavailable on theMade in Loppiano website.
LORENZO RUSSO
