VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI will focus on the connection between protecting the environment and working for peace in the message he will publish for World Peace Day in 2010, the Vatican said. The theme the pope has chosen for the Jan. 1 celebration is “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Safeguard Creation,” the Vatican announced July 29.

The Vatican said the pope intends to discuss the fact that in a globalized world there is a strict connection between protecting the environment and promoting peace. “The use of resources, climate change, the application and use of biotechnologies (and) demographic growth” are all issues that can have repercussions across national borders for generations to come, the statement said.

The papal message will underline the fact that protecting the natural environment is a challenge all people must face together, recognizing they have an obligation to respect a gift God created for all, it said. Pope Benedict also wants to emphasize how the “current ecological crisis” is impacting the entire world and, therefore, requires international action to resolve, it said.