The world has looked on in shock and alarm at the destruction being wrought to the Amazon rainforest by the fires raging there. Thousands of fires continue to burn in Brazil – the most intense in almost a decade – and it is here that the situation is seen as most concerning. However, fires are also burning in other countries in the Amazon region, including Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Colombia… as well as in Indonesia and elsewhere. Over the centuries, and increasingly rapidly, large swathes of forests have been destroyed all over the world. As people of the world we all share a responsibility to help restore the world’s forests, and protect those that remain, for the sake of the planet and all that live on it.
In response to the devastating impacts of the fires on the Amazon region’s biodiversity and indigenous people, the Anglican bishops of the Province of South America last week issued a pastoral letter. In it they call on governments, businesses and individuals to take the necessary action to address the crisis, writing, “In preparation for COP25 in Chile, we wish to exhort local and international governments to seriously implement a policy of Zero Deforestation through the passing and fulfilling of effective laws and programmes of protection, action and restoration of the damaged and threatened ecosystems. We also urge businesses and producers to reflect on their strategies of exploitation and extraction of natural resources and to seek more sustainable alternatives.”
They continue, “Finally, we urge all the inhabitants of planet earth to adopt ways, customs and habits, that will reduce their carbon footprint, and do less harm to the planet. We consider these measures to be essential if we are to combat climate change and ensure the survival of those peoples who seek to protect their ancestral lands”.
The bishops also express solidarity with the global climate protests, saying “it is neither acceptable that the economic interests of any one country should cause the destruction of the world’s environment, nor that local political interests should be more important than the future of the planet”.
The full text of the bishops’ letter follows. Please pray that the words of the bishops will be heeded. In this Season of Creation, with its theme of ‘protecting the web of life’ the bishops’ exhortations and warnings are, sadly, particularly pertinent.
A short service of lament has been written by the Anglican Communion Environmental Network for St Francis Day – October 4th – which marks the official end of the Season of Creation. You can find it here. It provides a helpful way to pray for the situation in the Amazon and, as the bishops write, for “the faithful to return to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, owner of the earth, with repentant hearts”.
Pastoral Declaration
of the Anglican Bishops of the Province of South America, 2019
Climate Action and Creation Care
Given the present day context of the fires in the Amazon region, especially in Brazil and Bolivia, which have mainly been provoked by the advance of deforestation; moved and concerned by the huge negative impact which these will have on the region’s biodiversity and indigenous communities, as on us; we, the bishops of the Anglican province of South America, want to share the following declarations as pastoral concerns:
- We lament the fact that these fires are evidence of human pride and disobedience against God’s command to be stewards of His creation. Instead of caring for the earth, we have built towers of Babel as if we were its owners. No-one is free from the collective sin which is destroying the planet’s ecology: greed, negligence, carelessness, ignorance, indifference and selfishness.
- The region we represent has the largest indigenous church membership in Latin America. For many of these groups, seeing their homes burn and their biodiversity being destroyed makes them ask that we become conscious of our sin, and also that we repent before the King of kings, judge of all creation. We believe that without genuine repentance on the part of all of us, we will continue to pay a huge price with greater disasters than those we have recently seen in our countries. The image of the fires reminds us daily of a Bible text (2 Peter 3.3-12) which describes an apocalyptic fire which will cover the world. This represents God’s judgement as a consequence of the sins of humans and speaks at the same time of the patience of God and His desire to see the salvation of humanity and the creation of a holy people. This could refer to an ecological disaster, or some other phenomenon, but we are conscious of the call to leave our sinful lives and return afresh to God.
- We repeat and reaffirm our Declaration on Climate Change and the Role of the Church elaborated in Lima in May 2018. We recommend as reference points the declarations made by the Anglican Bishops in Brazil, by the Pope (Laudato Si), by the Conferences of Catholic Bishops in US and Latin America, as well as statements and documents by Greenpeace, Latin American Council of Churches, Evangelical Coalition for Climate Justice, Brazilian Christian Alliance and United Mission Board (Argentina).
- We express solidarity with the global climate protests, affirming that it is neither acceptable that the economic interests of any one country should cause the destruction of the world’s environment, nor that local political interests should be more important than the future of the planet. Furthermore, our region includes three of the countries which have seen the greatest deforestation in the world in the last 10 years. This human activity is also affecting the Gran Chaco, the second largest forest ecosystem in South America after the Amazon. 400 species of plants coexist there, as well as 500 species of birds, 150 mammals, 120 reptiles, 100 amphibians and more than 4 million people, of whom about 8% are Amerindian, who depend on the forest to obtain food, water, wood and medicine.
- In preparation for COP25 in Chile, we wish to exhort local and international governments to seriously implement a policy of Zero Deforestation through the passing and fulfilling of effective laws and programmes of protection, action and restoration of the damaged and threatened ecosystems. We also urge businesses and producers to reflect on their strategies of exploitation and extraction of natural resources and to seek more sustainable alternatives. Finally, we urge all the inhabitants of planet earth to adopt ways, customs and habits, that will reduce their carbon footprint, and do less harm to the planet. We consider these measures to be essential if we are to combat climate change and ensure the survival of those peoples who seek to protect their ancestral lands.
- We exhort the faithful to return to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, owner of the earth, with repentant hearts. We ask His forgiveness for trying to usurp His place instead of living as stewards of Creation, respecting ecological and natural laws (Romans 1 and 8). We commit ourselves afresh to the care of creation, and to the protection of both biodiversity and the well-being of family and marriage.
Signed:
The Most Reverend Gregory Venables, Primate of the Province of South America, Diocesan Bishop of Argentina
Rt Rev. Nicholas Drayson, Diocesan Bishop, Northern Argentina
Rt Rev. Mateo Alto, Suffragan Bishop, Northern Argentina
Rt Rev. Crisanto Rojas, Suffragan Bishop, Northern Argentina
Rt Rev. Raphael Samuel, Diocesan Bishop, Bolivia
Rt Rev. Peter Bartlett, Diocesan Bishop, Paraguay
Rt Rev. Jorge Aguilar, Diocesan Bishop, Perú
Rt Rev. Daniel Genovesi, Interim Bishop, Uruguay
The Anglican Alliance connects, equips and inspires the worldwide Anglican family to work for a world free of poverty and injustice and to safeguard creation. A visual guide to biodiversity – including what it is, why it matters, and what the Bible says about it – can be found here.
