CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV celebrated the newly composed “Mass for the Care of Creation” today, marking the first use of the liturgical texts he approved a few weeks ago.

With just a small congregation gathered in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo this morning, Pope Leo offered the votive Mass “for the care of creation.”

Leo was joined by a similarly small selection of prelates, including Archbishop Vittorio Viola who is secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship – the Vatican office chiefly responsible for the Mass texts.

Also present was Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, the head of the disciplinary section at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Announced on June 30, the text of the Mass was unveiled via press conference on July 3. It has been added to the Masses “pro variis necessitatibus vel ad diversa,” or votive Masses, of the Roman Missal.

Approved by Pope Leo on June 8, the text of the Mass is understood to have been in the workings for some time under Pope Francis, and was due to be promulgated to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of Francis’ climate change oriented encyclical, Laudato Si’.

Citing the encyclical, a decree promulgating the new Mass texts stated that it was “considered appropriate” by the Dicastery for Divine Worship to institute the new Mass formulary since “it is evident that the work of creation is seriously threatened because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has endowed to our care (cf. Laudato si’ n. 2).”

Presenting the texts last week, Cardinal Michael Czerny – prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, which has oversight over climate issues – revealed that the new formulary came “in response to requests suggested by Laudato si’.” He stated that, for “the past decades” the Church has “continually affirmed the ‘mutual responsibility between human beings and nature’ (LS 67),” and asked that the new Mass prayers might “help us to learn how to care” for creation which “is always already present in the Catholic liturgy.”

The texts themselves are less inflammatory than had been expected, especially given the often strident climate-focussed language used under Pope Francis:

The location of today’s Mass was significant, given that it took place in the papal gardens given over to the “Borgo Laudato Si” center at Castel Gandolfo, born out of the encyclical and with the aim to promote the text’s ideals.

The garden, said Leo today, “is intended, according to Pope Francis’ intuition, to be ‘a laboratory’ in which to live that harmony with creation which is healing and reconciliation for us, developing new and effective ways of caring for the nature entrusted to us. To you, who are committed to this project, I therefore assure you of my prayers and encouragement.”

Delivering a homily – comprised of a prepared text and initial off-the-cuff comments – Leo said that Francis’ writings are still relevant today: “In a world that is burning, both from global warming and from armed conflicts, which make Pope Francis’ message in his encyclicals Laudato si‘ and Fratelli tutti so relevant today.”

“Only a contemplative gaze can change our relationship with created things and bring us out of the ecological crisis caused by the breakdown of our relationships with God, with our neighbors, and with the earth, as a result of sin,” he added, referencing Laudato Si’.

Leo also highlighted the need of “conversion” for those who do not yet prioritize “the urgency of caring for our common home,” saying:

At the beginning of Mass, we prayed for conversion, our conversion. I would like to add that we must pray for the conversion of many people, inside and outside the Church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for our common home.

Many natural disasters that we still see in the world, almost every day in many places, in many countries, are also partly caused by the excesses of human beings, with their lifestyle. Therefore, we must ask ourselves whether or not we ourselves are experiencing that conversion: how much we need it!

The Pope’s comments are notable today for two reasons: firstly, that he decided to give off-the-cuff remarks prior to his prepared homily, which is not yet something he has done, but also because of the severity of language he used to refer to climate change issues, namely “a world that is burning … from global warming.”

In previous climate related messages – such as his message for the upcoming world day of prayer for the care of creation – Leo has struck a different tone to Francis, urging a Catholic style of ordered care for creation while shying away from Francis’ often hyperbolic phraseology regarding alleged climate change.

After many years of climate alarmism rhetoric from the late pontiff, in 2022 the Vatican officially joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Francis defended the controversial move, saying that “she [‘Mother Earth’] weeps and implores us to put an end to our abuses and to her destruction.”

Such notable continued promotion of the Paris Agreement, which underpins the majority of the current “climate change” agenda, came despite the agreement’s fundamentally pro-abortion principles which connect to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal “right” to abortion in line with Goal No. 5.6 of the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Leo’s early foray into the topic of climate issues as Pope has so far suggested he will strike a gentler tone, though today’s Mass presents an alternative reference point for the future.