Dear Friends,
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
I hope you all enjoyed a blessed and joyous Easter Sunday. Jesus has conquered death, life and love have won the victory, to God be the glory!
Two events of this Easter Week have been playing on my heart and mind. On Monday, we were saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis, and on Tuesday, we marked the 55th anniversary of the first observance of Earth Day.
Pope Francis made creation care and action on climate change a major focus of his papacy, particularly through his 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’. In it, he called all Christians to an “ecological conversion” that recognizes that the “ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us… [but]… in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things.”
We have been entrusted to care for creation in a very particular way, and our failure to do so has had catastrophic results: polluted air, lands and waters; loss of biodiversity and the extinction of species; and a changing climate bringing extreme weather in its wake. The Fifth Mark of Mission of the Anglican Communion takes up this call to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. Our baptismal promises now include this vow.
At the Lambeth Conference in 2022, the global Anglican Communion established the Communion Forest initiative “to protect and restore forests and other ecosystems across our planet and commit to promoting tree growing at the time of confirmation and other key life and faith moments, as a symbol of spiritual growth.” Since then, the Communion Forest initiative has taken root (pun intended!) in dioceses around the world – including in our companion Diocese of Brasilia – as Anglicans take up the call not only to protect creation but also to be part of creation’s repair, restoration and renewal.
My wife Mary has been working with the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care to raise awareness of the movement in our own Diocese. You will hear more about the Communion Forest in the coming months, including an article that Mary has written for The Anglican. The Communion Forest will be the focus of our Season of Creation activities this fall. It’s my hope that all parishes will be encouraged to participate in this initiative as an expression of our faithful response to God’s call.
The care of creation does not need to be confined to specific days or seasons. We can find ways to protect the earth at all times: in our prayers, in our daily habits, our shopping, our decision-making, and as we cast our ballots next week. In the face of environmental devastation, economic uncertainty and the temptation to submit to apathy, tending to creation is an act of faith in the One who has the whole world in His hands.
As the risen Christ brings us new life, we are invited to bring life to others, human and non-human alike, so the whole earth may live to praise God’s name.
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
