Bishop Sees Many Waters on Special Boat Tour

World leader in faith and ecology, Australian Bishop Chris Toohey - in Bristol to help launch Sound of Many Waters on Saturday 29 September in Clifton Cathedral was welcomed to Bristol with a boat tour of the iconic City Docks. He also sailed under Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge on s/v Tangaroa to explore rare plants and animals making up the unique biodiversity of the stunning Avon Gorge.

Sound of Many Waters is an important series of events as the Catholic Church in this country explores ecology. There is over a year of innovative events in and around Bristol’s Clifton Cathedral. Bishop Toohey helps launch Sound of Many Waters this Saturday (29 September) at 6.00 pm in Clifton Cathedral when the Bishop of Clifton Right Reverend Declan Lang, who is also the Bishop for Environmental Justice in England and Wales, celebrates a special Mass.

Bishop Toohey who worked as shipping agent on Sydney’s waterfront before becoming a priest, enjoyed his water-based tour, saying, “What a way to be welcomed to Bristol! To sail under Brunel’s magnificent suspension bridge was fantastic. And learning about the biodiversity in the Avon Gorge – which is unique in the world – so close up, was an honour.

“I’m delighted to have been asked to be part of the beginning of Sound of Many Waters. It’s an audacious plan and I don’t know anyone else who’s doing anything like this. The fact that it’s going over a year gives it a real momentum. It gives people a chance to make a positive stance to the natural world part of their own life. It could well be a bit of a beacon on the international scene.”

Bishop Toohey was joined on the tour by Mary Colwell, the Clifton Cathedral parishioner and BBC Natural History producer who is the inspiration behind Sound of Many Waters.

Bishop Toohey has toured the UK in the build-up to the Sound of Waters launch, meeting many high profile leaders including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. He also took part in a meeting in the House of Commons.

Bishop Toohey is the Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes and Chairman of the Australian Bishops’ Commission for Justice and Service, which includes the groundbreaking Catholic Earthcare Australia. He gave a keynote address at this year’s first ever Vatican conference on climate change.