The Secretary Common of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, has shared his Easter Message for 2026. It encourages church buildings of the Anglican Communion to share God’s ‘reward of peace’ with the world, and take heed to the voice of church buildings in locations of battle.
The Secretary Common’s Easter Message:
‘Peace be with you! Because the Father has despatched me, I’m sending you.’ — John 20:21.
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This Easter, tens of millions of individuals across the globe reside in concern, their worlds turned the other way up, as worldwide hostilities threaten their sense of dwelling, stability and safety.
Battle within the Center East continues to trigger a devastating lack of life and struggling on all sides. In Sudan, South Sudan and DRC, tensions are inflicting mass migration and humanitarian crises. In Ukraine, the warfare grinds on, claiming hundreds of lives. In Cuba, tens of millions of individuals’s lives are impacted by financial disaster. As a part of an ecumenical solidarity go to to Cuba this week, I witnessed firsthand how it’s leaving households with out meals, medication or hope.
What doable response can the Church make to a world of battle and turmoil?
Firstly, allow us to pray, with the hope of God’s reward of peace. In John’s gospel, we discover the disciples hiding behind locked doorways — their world turned the other way up by the destruction and seeming defeat of the crucifixion, and gripped by concern. But into that concern, the risen Jesus seems and speaks: ‘Peace be with you!’ This Easter, as we consider all folks residing in concern and locations of battle, we pray: Could the hope of the risen Jesus, the reward of peace, standing in your midst, be identified.
Secondly, allow us to be a Church that shares God’s reward of peace with the world. Christ’s announcement of peace doesn’t allow the Church to be passive. After expressing peace, Christ sends his disciples out with the command: ‘Because the Father has despatched me, I’m sending you.’ Within the energy of God’s Spirit, Christ calls his Church to be a reconciling presence on the planet. Allow us to take up this name.
This isn’t at all times simple, however as an Anglican Communion — a Christian presence in additional than 165 nations — there’s a lot that we are able to do collectively. In sensible phrases, allow us to take heed to the voice of the church in nations affected by battle. Allow us to amplify their appeals for peace, provide monetary help to humanitarian programmes, foyer political leaders, or categorical friendship by becoming a member of them for on-line prayer companies the place doable.
In current days, many Primates and Anglican representatives gathered with ecumenical and inter religion company for the Set up of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. Prayers have been provided for the wants and peace of the world. In an additional signal of hope, the brand new Archbishop and His Holiness Pope Leo XIV exchanged letters, reaffirming a shared dedication to Christian unity.
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When the world feels so fractured, these actions and expressions of solidarity between Christians matter deeply. They’re a visual and valuable sharing of the reward of peace and because the Beatitudes train us: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are going to be known as kids of God’. (Matthew 5:9).
This Easter, could we proceed to be an Anglican Communion that walks collectively, crosses divides, and carries the peace of the risen Christ right into a damaged world.
The Proper Revd Anthony Poggo
Secretary Common of the Anglican Communion