Connecting (virtually) for the Amazon

Agnes Richard, like everyone these days, has moments where she feels sad and scared as the COVID-19 pandemic changes all of our lives.

But what keeps the coordinator of Canada’s Global Catholic Climate Movement chapter motivated and hopeful is finding ways to connect with others.

To celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, 16-24 May, Richard will provide a way for everyone to come together around the common cause of protecting creation.

On 20 May, she will lead a one-hour webinar titled, “Women of Faith–EcoLeaders” that will feature Sister Priscilla Solomon, CSJ, and Sister Linda Gregg, CSJ, both of whom live in Canada and have been practicing the tenets of Laudato Si’ for decades.

Sr. Solomon, for instance, traveled to Rome last November to support indigenous people at the Tienda de la Casa Común symposium, and Sr. Gregg has long cared for creation by coordinating an 80-plot organic community garden, among her other activities.

The sisters began doing that type of work long before Pope Francis finished penning Laudato Si’ in May 2015. But their work “is so incredibly relevant now. It needs to be supported, lifted, and repeated,” Richard said.

In the teaching webinar, the sisters will explain more practical ways they’ve cared for creation and strived for ecological justice. They’ll also examine how everyone in the world, especially Canadians, can apply the lessons from Pope Francis’ “Querida Amazonia” to other biomes, and they’ll delve into what Pope Francis means when he encourages people to practice “inculturation.”

“Anywhere we are in the world, we can replace the word ‘Amazon’ with our own biome,” Richard said.

Everyone, including people who live outside of Canada, is welcome to join the webinar, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. EST on 20 May. Register here.

For those who can’t make it, Richard encouraged everyone to find similar opportunities to connect during these times of “social distancing.”

“When we come out from the other side of this pandemic, we can still make change,” she said. “We can’t forget that that (climate crisis) is still out there looming over us.”