Rome (Italy). On 4 November 2025, as the world converged towards the COP30 – the 30th Conference of the Parties, held in Belém, Brazilian Amazon, from November 10 to 21 – the Religious Sector for the Laudato Si’ Platform for Action, in collaboration with the Interreligious Liaison Committee and the USG-UISG Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (GPIC) Commission, organized a time of interreligious prayer online to join this global event, putting at the center the commitment to take care of the common home, which belongs to all humanity.
This moment was also intended to be a response to the invitation to “return to the heart”, made by Pope Leo XIV as part of the “Raising Hope Conference” held in Castel Gandolfo from 1 to 3 October 2025. “It is only through a return to the heart that a true ecological conversion can also take place. We need to move from data collection to care; from environmentalist discourses to an ecological conversion that transforms personal and community lifestyles. For those who believe, this is a conversion no different from that which orients us to the living God, because one cannot love the God who is not seen by despising His creatures, and one cannot say oneself a disciple of Jesus Christ without participating in His gaze on creation and His care for what is fragile and wounded.”
The prayer was repeated twice on the same day (at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM Rome time) to allow the whole world to participate. Among the organizers was Sister Chanda Constance Nsofwa, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, a collaborator of the Youth Ministry Sector and a representative of the FMA Institute in the field of religious for the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, who also collaborated in organizing the prayer moment, welcoming the participants.
During the online link, representatives of various religions and organizations spoke:
- Muhammad Hassan, Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center Human Fraternity (Rome).
- Christine Ogola of Kenya, climate change adaptation advocate and currently a Master’s student in Environmental Governance at the University of Freiburg.
- Lucas D’Avila of Brazil, National coordinator of the MAGRE (Environment, Disaster Risk Management and Emergency) department of Caritas Brazil, which accompanied the path of the Catholic Church and Caritas Brazil towards the COP30.
- Svamini Shuddhananda Ghirie, Hindu religious, member of the Italian Hindu Union – Sanatana Dharma Samgha and representative of the Commission for Education and Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue.
- Philip Huggins, Australian Anglican bishop, member of the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
These guests were asked a question-“Why is it important that the COP30 goals be achieved?”-to which they responded by drawing on their own tradition and faith, sharing spiritual practices and local climate initiatives, with the aim of fueling reflection on how they are called to strengthen common action to care for the planet. Significant was their convergence on the importance of caring for the common home regardless of geographic origin, religion, and culture.
This confirms the topicality and importance of Pope Francis’ appeal in the encyclical Laudato si’. “I make an urgent call to renew the dialogue on the way we are building the future of the planet. We need a discussion that unites us all, because the environmental challenge we face, and its human roots, concern and touch us all.” (Laudato si’ n.14).
For the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, it is a call to continue promoting the commitment made with the Chapter Resolution by the FMA communities and educating communities, joining a global movement that seeks not only political change, but above all, ecological conversion, a renewed way of relating to others and to creation rooted in gratitude, responsibility, and care, a call to disarm to educate ourselves and educate for peace, a greater listening to the cry of the land and the poor in the different contexts of the mission.
In his Message ahead in view of COP30, Pope Leo hopes that:
“All participants in this COP30, as well as those actively following its work, be inspired to courageously embrace this ecological conversion with thought and action, keeping in mind the human face of the climate crisis.
May this ecological conversion inspire the development of a new human-centered international financial architecture that ensures that all countries, especially the poorest and those most vulnerable to climate disasters, succeed in reaching their full potential and have the dignity of their citizens respected. This architecture must also take into account the link between ecological debt and external debt.
May education on integral ecology be promoted that explains why decisions at the personal, family, community, and political levels shape our common future, while raising awareness of the climate crisis and encouraging mentalities and lifestyles aimed at better respecting creation and safeguarding the dignity of the person and the inviolability of human life.
May all participants in this COP30 commit to protecting and caring for the creation entrusted to us by God in order to build a peaceful world.”
