The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan has called the Holy Year a moment for “ecological conversion,” urging the faithful to heal broken ties with God, creation, and humanity.
In a message for the 2025 Month for Protecting All Life, Bishop Daisuke Narui, SVD, head of the bishops’ Laudato Si’ Section, said the Jubilee tradition outlined in Leviticus offers a model for today’s world.
“It is a time to correct distortions that had occurred for various reasons and to restore society to its original state,” the bishop said, recalling that in the Old Testament, the fiftieth year was marked by rest, liberation, and justice.
Narui stressed that creation, described in Genesis as “very good,” reveals the interdependence of all beings. But he warned that human greed and disregard for limits have broken this order.
“Mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal continue to destroy our relationship with creation. Moreover, we continue to steer society toward immediate profits without considering next generations,” he said.
The bishop also lamented divisions among peoples created in God’s image, saying, “We build walls to exclude others and sometimes even discard them, going so far as taking away their lives.”
He reminded the faithful that “everything belongs to the Lord, both the people and the land,” adding that ecological renewal begins in humility.
“The first thing we should do is to humbly admit that we are not the masters of this world,” Narui said.
The Month for Protecting All Life, first observed after Pope Francis’ 2019 visit to Japan, coincides with the global Season of Creation celebrated by Christians worldwide.
This year’s theme, “Peace with Creation,” draws from Isaiah 32:14–18, which envisions justice and righteousness bringing about lasting peace.
Narui cited Pope Leo XIV’s recent teaching for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. The pontiff stressed that environmental justice “can no longer be regarded as an abstract concept or a distant goal.”
“It is an urgent need that involves much more than simply protecting the environment. For it is a matter of justice – social, economic, and human,” the pope said.
Narui, marking the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ and the passing of Pope Francis, said the late pontiff’s appeal to consider the world left to future generations carries even greater weight today.
“I hope that this year’s Month for Protecting All Life will be a time of prayer and action to spread a way of life that protects all life in both faith and humanity, for the present and for next generations,” Narui said.
He encouraged parishes to celebrate the recently translated Mass for the Care of Creation in Japanese, adding,“I pray for God’s blessings and guidance on your efforts.”
From September 1 to October 4, Christians around the world will mark the Season of Creation, a period of prayer, reflection, and action for the environment.
