Secundino Correia, member of the 'Laudato Si' Circle in Coimbra, appealed for the urgent adoption of a "more frugal" life to combat the spiral of environmental degradation, challenging people to change behaviors and habits, rethinking the concept of progress and development. The warning coincided with the 'Steps for Peace' walk, a civic initiative that has the adhesion of eight Portuguese cities to stop the destruction caused by war.
The televised broadcast of the ECCLESIA Programme (RTP2) covered the beginning of the "Season of Creation", an ecumenical and environmental initiative that unites millions of Christians around the world for moments of prayer and ecological action. Susana Réfega, from the 'Laudato Si' Movement, underlined that the artificial separation of global issues hides the root of the ongoing disaster, stressing that "there are not two crises, there is one single crisis" that relentlessly affects vulnerable populations.
The celebration of the 'Season of Creation', which runs until October 4, has water as its central theme this year, in a world where one in four people lives deprived of this essential resource. Secundino Correia also warned about the existence of "many economic interests that get in the way and try to deny, for example, climate change".
The official start of the prayer and reflection period featured a written message from Pope Leo XIV, who denounced the lasting socio-ecological destruction caused by armed conflicts. The pontiff appealed that "caring for our common home requires a conversion of the heart, so that what has been used to cause destruction may, instead, be directed toward life".
