Pope Leo XIV said people who do not see the need to protect the Earth should "convert" as he celebrated the Catholic Church's new 'Green' Mass, with a formulary established for "the care of creation", for the first time on Wednesday.
    "At the beginning of the Mass we prayed for conversion, our conversion," said the American pontiff, who is currently on a two-week break at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolo.
    "I would like to add that we must pray for the conversion of so many people, inside and outside the Church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for the common home.
    "So many natural disasters that we still see in the world, almost every day in so many places, in so many countries, are also partly caused by the excesses of human beings, with their lifestyle.
    "So we have to ask ourselves whether or not we ourselves are living that conversion".
    Leo presided over the Green Mass at the Borgo Laudato si', an 'oasis' dedicated by his predecessor Francis to his seminal environmental encyclical Laudato si'.
    Like Francis', Leo XIV has also put the issue of climate change and halting environmental degradation at the top of the Church's priorities.

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