Christ the King hosts a blessing of pets in honor of St. Francis

By Katie Dusza, Asst. News Editor 

On Oct. 5, Christ the King Chapel and Campus Ministry collaborated with the Environmental Sustainability Committee in celebration of the Season of Creation. Christ the King Chapel welcomed people to bring their pets and get them blessed. This was accompanied by a pet fair with food, supplies and toys, provided by parishioners. The event was followed by a campus cleanup with the United Student Association’s Environmental Sustainability Committee.

The Season of Creation is a Catholic tradition that began on Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ended on Oct. 4, which marks the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. The Season of Creation honors the natural world and God’s creations.

This day of prayer was created at the wish of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios in 1989, and was endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015.

Worshippers participate in community events in order to connect with the natural world, and through that, God and His creations.

In a papal address for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV states environmental justice – implicitly proclaimed by the prophets – 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.

Christ the King Chapel strives to offer a sense of community and unity in a time of global uncertainty.  

Father Betti and Caroline King with pets and pet parents following the blessing, via Mikayla Boyd