SECAM Webinar Urges Bishops to Strengthen Commitment to Creation Day Celebrations

On October 15, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) hosted a webinar entitled “The African Church and ‘Creation Day’: an Opportunity to Realize SECAM’s 2050 Vision on Creation Care”. The event was inspired both by the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ and the ever-growing celebrations of Creation Day last month.

“This feast is a wonderful pastoral opportunity for the People of God in our region,” said Bishop Bernard Toha of Benin in his welcome remarks on behalf of SECAM. “As Laudato Si’ reminded us 10 years ago, we face a pastoral necessity to rediscover God as Creator and the great mystery of the creation of the world through Christ.”

The webinar, which attracted 125 participants from across Africa and beyond, reflected a strong and growing interest in the Church’s commitment to Creation Care. This impressive turnout underscored the enthusiasm of bishops, theologians, and pastoral agents toward integrating ecological awareness into the Church’s mission.

Moreover, Bishop Toha then added: “We are particularly encouraged by the important step by 6 African episcopal conferences, out of 10 conferences globally, who issued national mandates for all parishes to celebrate Creation Day with the new Mass formulary released by the Holy See – the ‘Missa pro custodia creationis’. They already celebrated it last month. It was a historic step. At SECAM we rejoice by such a strong leadership role of the African Church in deepening and further popularizing this celebration.”

Testimonies were shared by bishops from some of those countries, such as Cardinal Pablo David from the Philippines, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji from Nigeria, and Bishop Coffi Roger Anoumou from Benin. They all stressed how the Holy See’s new Mass has opened the door to more meaningful liturgical celebrations of Creation Day, with rich fruits at the pastoral level.

“Creation Day”, also known as the “Feast of Creation” or “World Day of Prayer for Creation”, is celebrated annually on September 1 or – most frequently – the subsequent Sunday. The late Pope Francis instituted the World Day of Prayer for the universal Church in 2015. Since then, it has grown rapidly across the world. And Pope Leo has continued the tradition, issuing a special message for Creation Day 2025 and then making a strong appeal to all Catholics to join the celebration, since Creation Day is “now more urgent and important than ever.”

Various speakers explored the feast from various angles, highlighting its pastoral and liturgical potential. For instance, the secretary general of RECOWA, Fr. Vitalis Anaehobi, explained how Creation Day can help bring SECAM’s new “2050 Vision” to life, most especially in terms of Pillar 5 on Creation Care, but also deeply relevant to Pillar 1 (Evangelization), Pillar 8 (Ecumenical collaboration), and Pillar 11 (Liturgical life).

Relatedly, Sr. Ann-Maree O’Beirne from Australian Catholic University presented how the ecumenical celebration of Creation Day is inspired in an ancient liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church, for whom this day has symbolized God’s act of the creation of the world since the 5th century. Other speakers included Fr. Peter Knox from the Pan-African Catholic Theology & Pastoral Network, Dr. Timothy Brunk from Villanova University, Tomás Insua from the Laudato Si’ Institute at Oxford University, and Ashley Kitisya from Laudato Si’ Movement Africa.

A lively group of participants from across the continent then had the opportunity to discuss this pastoral opportunity and explore how to deepen the celebrations next year, replicating the step by the six African conferences who already did it in September 2025 (Nigeria, Southern Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, and Lesotho, besides others in Asia).

Episcopal conferences are encouraged to contact the SECAM secretariat if support could be useful to implement this step. Moreover, resources are available in various languages at www.FeastOfCreation.com.

Communications Office of SECAM