Pope Leo XIV’s September prayer intention is “for the care of water” as Christians celebrate the Season of Creation.
“We see with pain so many brothers and sisters who lack clean water, who walk for miles to find it, who become ill due to its scarcity,” the pope said in a video published Sept. 1.
U.N. agencies reported in 2025 that around 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, while 106 million rely exclusively on rivers, lakes, or other untreated surface water.
In his prayer for the month of September, Pope Leo asked the Holy Spirit to guide Christians to denounce waste and pollution and to defend “the right of every brother and sister to drink without fear and without inequality.”
“Forgive us for turning it into a commodity, forgetting that it is a universal gift, a right without borders, meant for all your children,” he prayed.
The pope’s prayer intention comes as Christians around the world celebrate the Season of Creation from Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, until Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
This year’s theme is “Living Water,” recalling the growing scarcity of fresh water and the inequality of access to it.
Pope Leo’s prayer intention is also a call to personal action to consume water responsibly and moderately, according to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which is encouraging people to do what they can to take shorter showers, fix leaks, turn off faucets not in use, and to avoid polluting drains and rivers.
In the video produced by the prayer network, the pope reflected on how water is a symbol of God’s “grace and love that renews us through Baptism.” The video shows Pope Leo dipping his hand into a holy water font and making the sign of the cross as he prays inside the Church of San Pellegrino in Vatican City.
Water, he said, “quenches thirst, nourishes the earth, and heals wounds,” describing this gift as a “source of fruitfulness, freshness, and hope.”
“May our care for water be a sign of love for the Creator and a commitment to the lives of the poor, educating new generations to value and protect the Earth’s resources,” Pope Leo said.
Father Cristóbal Fones, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, notes that water is one of the great essentials of life.
“This prayer intention invites us to think deeply about creation, to safeguard it, and to look with God’s eyes on those who today have to walk for miles to obtain a bit of clean water, and to convert what we see into concrete actions that demonstrate moderation, care, and solidarity,” Father Fones said.
“No one should live without water, and no one should die because they lack water.”
