"The Lord your God gives you rain in a fair measure, for you He makes water fall down" (J 2, 23). This is the subject of the 2nd National Day for the Protection of the Creation, which the Italian Church celebrates on 1st September, when initiatives about water will be held in all dioceses. Since the national youth meeting with Benedict XVI in Loreto coincides with the Day, the Italian Bishops Conference Committee for support to the initiatives of the Youth Pastoral (Cisip) decided to carry out special educational and logistic schemes so that the Loreto meeting will be respectful of the Creation and will help the new generations find effective practices and lifestyles to protect the environment. Established by the Bishops during the Permanent Council of January 2006, one of the goals of the Day is to give a new boost to the objectives of the "Carta Oecumenica" which was signed in 2001 by the Christian Churches, starting from their "shared concern" that the earth’s assets are being exploited in a way that "does not consider their inherent value, that does not consider their limitedness and has no respect for the future generations". This is also related to the forthcoming third European Ecumenical Assembly, due in Sibiu (Romania) from 3rd to 9th September.
