Ecumenical Patriarch: The ecological crisis is also a crisis of values

In his message for the beginning of the Indiction and the new ecclesiastical year, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stresses the need for collective and personal responsibility in protecting the environment.

In 1989, the Ecumenical Patriarchate designated September 1 as the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment.

The Ecumenical Patriarch notes that the contemporary ecological crisis does not concern the environment alone but is also connected with human freedom, ethos, religion, philosophy, and culture. He also refers to the initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which have highlighted the spiritual and social dimensions of the ecological problem.

“Humanity must at last cease acting as though it does not know,” he stresses, warning against the illusion that the planet can indefinitely withstand the burdens and destruction caused by human activity or that nature can always renew itself.

According to the Ecumenical Patriarch, protecting the environment requires action at the global, national, local, and personal levels. He describes the cultivation of ecological responsibility as a “categorical imperative” for humanity.

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