On Earth As In Heaven: Ecological Vision and Initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

4. Ecology and Ethics: Virtues and Values, Responsibility and Justice

4 Ecology and Ethics Virtues and Values, Responsibility and Justice Conferences and Seminars Message to the Inter-Orthodox Conference, Academy of Crete, Greece, November ,  ecological responsibility It is with much joy and deep satisfaction that we greet the inauguration of this Inter-Orthodox Conference on the protection of the natural environment . The convocation of this conference was a particular desire and hope of our late predecessor, Patriarch Dimitrios of blessed memory, who convened it on the decision of the Holy and Sacred Synod, by means of official Patriarchal Letters inviting their Beatitudes the leaders of the Orthodox Churches to send representatives. The gathering of such representatives at the Orthodox Academy of Crete for this purpose surely already fills the blessed soul of the late Patriarch with joy. However, it also moves us to offer praise to the Lord and express our warmest thanks to all of you, who have gathered from near and afar either as delegates of the Most Holy Orthodox Churches or as observers from other churches and confessions and international organizations. We greatly appreciate your favorable response to this initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The importance of your conference hardly needs to be stressed. In his message of September 1, 1989, the late Patriarch Dimitrios expressed the deep anxiety of the whole of the Orthodox world and of every responsible 158 Ecology and Ethics 兩 159 thinking person concerning the environmental disaster so rapidly overtaking us, for which our thoughtless abuse of God’s material creation is entirely to blame.1 Already ‘‘creation groans in travail together,’’ in the expression of the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8.22), under the boot of human greed. The responsibility of spiritual and political leaders as well as of all people is enormous. Orthodoxy, too, must give her testimony. Your conference is invited to contribute in this respect. We are present in spirit in your deliberations. Furthermore, we bestow on these deliberations our Paternal blessing, praying from our heart that the Holy Spirit will guide your work to full success so that through this means the holy name of the Triune God may be glorified, the bonds uniting the Holy Orthodox Church may be tied more firmly, and the salvation of humanity and the whole of creation may also be furthered. Opening Ceremony, Second Summer Seminar, Halki, Turkey, June ,  environment and ethics Our Holy Great Church of Christ, the Mother Church, justifiably boasts in God for having hastened to be among the first to initiate a complete series of seminars on ecology within the context of her broader ministries in the world. The Church’s efforts, of course, are not to be perceived as simply striding along with modern times. Rather, our concerns are rooted in the deeper conviction that by these initiatives the Church ministers thoroughly and accountably within the primary mission entrusted to it by God in history, namely the evangelization and salvation in Christ of humanity and the natural world. Out of this deep-rooted conviction, we humbly believe that, during these distressing times in which contemporary humanity around the world finds itself, although it is by all means a noteworthy and honorable enterprise for one to speak casually of ecological concerns, there is often the danger of being misunderstood as someone going along with the ‘‘trend’’ of the times. Such a person may be misconceived as one who rather seeks and pursues what impresses instead of what actually illuminates and essentially contributes to the solutions of relevant problems. 1. See Chapter 1, ‘‘Call to Vigilance and Prayer.’’ 160 兩 Ecology and Ethics Who can truly deny that, in spite of the honorable efforts made by various sectors in order to respond properly to the clamoring demand surrounding this issue, we all still continue to compete with each other on the problem of the environment, speaking and babbling rather than thinking and concurrently doing what is right? This seminar, which with God’s blessing is being hosted in this renowned Monastery of the Holy Trinity on Halki, on the theme ‘‘Environment and Ethics,’’ is an attempt to restrain precisely this immense danger, which, as usual, silently and perhaps subconsciously threatens to foil much of the theoretical work done on this subject. Consequently, as our paternal duty, we take this opportunity not simply to make these introductory remarks as though they were a formal greeting from the Mother Church, one in which we bestow our wholehearted Patriarchal...