Praying the world halts climate change? There's now a Catholic Mass for that

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -A new rite published by the Vatican on Thursday will allow priests to celebrate a Mass to exhort Catholics to exercise care for the Earth, in the latest push by the 1.4-billion-member global Church to address global climate change.

For centuries, Catholic priests have been able to celebrate special Masses to pray for their country, give thanks after a harvest or ask God to end a natural disaster.

The new "Mass for the care of creation," prepared by two Vatican offices, allows priests to pray that Catholics will "lovingly care" for creation and "learn to live in harmony with all creatures".

"This Mass … calls us to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us – not only in daily choices and public policies, but also in our prayer, our worship, and our way of living in the world," said Cardinal Michael Czerny, presenting the rite at a Vatican press conference on Thursday.

Catholic priests have the possibility of offering Masses for a range of special needs. The new rite, approved by Pope Leo, is the 50th option offered by the Vatican.

The late Pope Francis was a firm proponent of care for creation. He was the first pope to embrace the scientific consensus about climate change and urged nations to reduce their carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate accord.

"Pope Leo clearly will carry this pastoral and civil concern forward," Rev. Bruce Morrill, a Jesuit priest and expert on Catholic liturgy at Vanderbilt University in the U.S., told Reuters.

"This new thematic Mass indicates the Church's recognition of the serious threats human-caused climate change is now fully realising," he said.

The new Vatican rite comes two days after Catholic bishops from Asia, Africa and Latin America called on global governments to do more to address climate change, publishing a joint appeal that was the first of its kind.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Saad Sayeed)