Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis, Anglican archbishop issue joint environmental message

Rome, September 7, 2021

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In honor of the month of September, “celebrated by many Christians as the Season of Creation, an opportunity to pray and care for God’s creation,” Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Pope Francis, and Archbishop Justin of Canterbury of the Anglican church issued a “Joint Message for the Protection of Creation.”

Pat. Bartholomew and his colleagues write that the Christian Tradition calls us to be stewards of creation, “but we have taken the opposite direction.” But now “we have an opportunity to repent, to turn around in resolve, to head in the opposite direction. Wes must pursue generosity and fairness in the ways that we live, work and use money, instead of selfish gain.”

The three emphasize that this is the first time they have issued a message together about “the urgency of environmental sustainability.”

“Caring for God’s creation is a spiritual commission requiring a response of commitment. This is a critical moment. Our children’s future and the future of our common home depend on it,” the message concludes.

Read the full text of the joint message:

For more than a year, we have all experienced the devastating effects of a global pandemic—all of us, whether poor or wealthy, weak or strong. Some were more protected or vulnerable than others, but the rapidly-spreading infection meant that we have depended on each other in our efforts to stay safe. We realised that, in facing this worldwide calamity, no one is safe until everyone is safe, that our actions really do affect one another, and that what we do today affects what happens tomorrow.

These are not new lessons, but we have had to face them anew. May we not waste this moment. We must decide what kind of world we want to leave to future generations. God mandates: ‘Choose life, so that you and your children might live’ (Dt 30:19). We must choose to live differently; we must choose life.

September is celebrated by many Christians as the Season of Creation, an opportunity to pray and care for God’s creation. As world leaders prepare to meet in November at Glasgow to deliberate on the future of our planet, we pray for them and consider what the choices we must all make. Accordingly, as leaders of our Churches, we call on everyone, whatever their belief or worldview, to endeavour to listen to the cry of the earth and of people who are poor, examining their behaviour and pledging meaningful sacrifices for the sake of the earth which God has given us.

The Importance of Sustainability

In our common Christian tradition, the Scriptures and the Saints provide illuminating perspectives for comprehending both the realities of the present and the promise of something larger than what we see in the moment. The concept of stewardship—of individual and collective responsibility for our God-given endowment—presents a vital starting-point for social, economic and environmental sustainability. In the New Testament, we read of the rich and foolish man who stores great wealth of grain while forgetting about his finite end (Lk 12.13–21). We learn of the prodigal son who takes his inheritance early, only to squander it and end up hungry (Lk 15.11–32). We are cautioned against adopting short term and seemingly inexpensive options of building on sand, instead of building on rock for our common home to withstand storms (Mt 7.24–27). These stories invite us to adopt a broader outlook and recognise our place in the extended story of humanity.

But we have taken the opposite direction. We have maximised our own interest at the expense of future generations. By concentrating on our wealth, we find that long-term assets, including the bounty of nature, are depleted for short-term advantage. Technology has unfolded new possibilities for progress but also for accumulating unrestrained wealth, and many of us behave in ways which demonstrate little concern for other people or the limits of the planet. Nature is resilient, yet delicate. We are already witnessing the consequences of our refusal to protect and preserve it (Gn 2.15). Now, in this moment, we have an opportunity to repent, to turn around in resolve, to head in the opposite direction. We must pursue generosity and fairness in the ways that we live, work and use money, instead of selfish gain.

The Impact on People Living with Poverty

The current climate crisis speaks volumes about who we are and how we view and treat God’s creation. We stand before a harsh justice: biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and climate change are the inevitable consequences of our actions, since we have greedily consumed more of the earth’s resources than the planet can endure. But we also face a profound injustice: the people bearing the most catastrophic consequences of these abuses are the poorest on the planet and have been the least responsible for causing them. We serve a God of justice, who delights in creation and creates every person in God’s image, but also hears the cry of people who are poor. Accordingly, there is an innate call within us to respond with anguish when we see such devastating injustice.

Today, we are paying the price. The extreme weather and natural disasters of recent months reveal afresh to us with great force and at great human cost that climate change is not only a future challenge, but an immediate and urgent matter of survival. Widespread floods, fires and droughts threaten entire continents. Sea levels rise, forcing whole communities to relocate; cyclones devastate entire regions, ruining lives and livelihoods. Water has become scarce and food supplies insecure, causing conflict and displacement for millions of people. We have already seen this in places where people rely on small scale agricultural holdings. Today we see it in more industrialised countries where even sophisticated infrastructure cannot completely prevent extraordinary destruction.

Tomorrow could be worse. Today’s children and teenagers will face catastrophic consequences unless we take responsibility now, as ‘fellow workers with God’ (Gn 2.4–7), to sustain our world. We frequently hear from young people who understand that their futures are under threat. For their sake, we must choose to eat, travel, spend, invest and live differently, thinking not only of immediate interest and gains but also of future benefits.We repent of our generation’s sins. We stand alongside our younger sisters and brothers throughout the world in committed prayer and dedicated action for a future which corresponds ever more to the promises of God.

The Imperative of Cooperation

Over the course of the pandemic, we have learned how vulnerable we are. Our social systems frayed, and we found that we cannot control everything. We must acknowledge that the ways we use money and organize our societies have not benefited everyone. We find ourselves weak and anxious, submersed in a series of crises; health, environmental, food, economic and social, which are all deeply interconnected.

These crises present us with a choice. We are in a unique position either to address them with shortsightedness and profiteering or seize this as an opportunity for conversion and transformation. If we think of humanity as a family and work together towards a future based on the common good, we could find ourselves living in a very different world. Together we can share a vision for life where everyone flourishes. Together we can choose to act with love, justice and mercy. Together we can walk towards a fairer and fulfilling society with those who are most vulnerable at the centre.

But this involves making changes. Each of us, individually, must take responsibility for the ways we use our resources. This path requires an ever-closer collaboration among all churches in their commitment to care for creation. Together, as communities, churches, cities and nations, we must change route and discover new ways of working together to break down the traditional barriers between peoples, to stop competing for resources and start collaborating.

To those with more far-reaching responsibilities—heading administrations, running companies, employing people or investing funds—we say: choose people-centred profits; make short-term sacrifices to safeguard all our futures; become leaders in the transition to just and sustainable economies. ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’ (Lk 12:48)

This is the first time that the three of us feel compelled to address together the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on persistent poverty, and the importance of global cooperation. Together, on behalf of our communities, we appeal to the heart and mind of every Christian, every believer and every person of good will. We pray for our leaders who will gather in Glasgow to decide the future of our planet and its people. Again, we recall Scripture: ‘choose life, so that you and your children may live’ (Dt 30:19). Choosing life means making sacrifices and exercising self-restraint.

All of us—whoever and wherever we are—can play a part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and environmental degradation.

Caring for God’s creation is a spiritual commission requiring a response of commitment. This is a critical moment. Our children’s future and the future of our common home depend on it.

1st September 2021

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9/7/2021

See also
Patriarch Bartholomew: “Orthodox ecofriendly values are an embankment against the culture” Patriarch Bartholomew: “Orthodox ecofriendly values are an embankment against the culture” Patriarch Bartholomew: “Orthodox ecofriendly values are an embankment against the culture” Patriarch Bartholomew: “Orthodox ecofriendly values are an embankment against the culture”
While science serves life, allowing mankind to overcome various illnesses and “create new positive perspectives for the future,” science also “provides man with all-powerful means, whose misuse can be turned destructive.”
Holy Synod of the Russian Church establishes a day of special prayer for God's creation Holy Synod of the Russian Church establishes a day of special prayer for God's creation Holy Synod of the Russian Church establishes a day of special prayer for God's creation Holy Synod of the Russian Church establishes a day of special prayer for God's creation
The Holy Synod members have approved the text of a special prayer for protection of the God’s creation (prepared by the Synodal Liturgical Commission) which will be held annually in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church on the first Sunday of September. The Synod has also decreed that archpastors and pastors should deliver sermons dedicated to care for God’s creation on that day.
Christian Environmentalism and the Temptation of Faux Asceticism Christian Environmentalism and the Temptation of Faux Asceticism
Fr. Michael Butler, Andrew P. Morriss
Christian Environmentalism and the Temptation of Faux Asceticism Christian Environmentalism and the Temptation of Faux Asceticism
Fr. Michael Butler, Andrew P. Morriss
It is important to clarify the Church’s teaching on asceticism because many voices in the environmental movement encourage a kind of ascetical lifestyle in the name of “ethical consumption.” Orthodox writers on the environment are not immune to the temptation of putting the ascetical tradition of the Church in the service of another agenda.
Comments
Michael9/11/2021 10:16 pm
You are given a rock and told it is a loaf of bread. But it isn't bread. And if you say "this is obviously not bread and not fit to be eaten", you are labelled a liar and a scoundrel and other names. You will be accused of wanting people to starve. You will be called out for being "anti-science", the consensus of which would claim that the rock is in fact bread. This "environmental sustainability" thing is similar to that. It's a corruption of language that follows from the corruption of minds. My position as an Orthodox Christian is that you can't improve the state of your surroundings by rearranging its outward conditions of your existence, especially when the one doing the rearranging is deeply sinful and furthermore prideful in his sin. I know this from my own experience. Change men's souls and you will change their surroundings. If people want to see an improvement in their ecological condition, the plight of which is the result of human vice, they need to turn to the Lord and live according to the commandments that he has laid out for Mankind. And then everything would be set in place. This is what teaching of the Church emphasizes, not technocratic social engineering slogans like "sustainable development", "transformation of nature", or "smart society", which simply seek to extend the life of the current post-industrial cultural paradigm at the expense of people's dignity, liberty and ability to make their own decisions.
Panagiotis9/10/2021 12:39 am
Our Lord Jesus Christ did come to judge... What did he say about those who hurt children? He said it would be better for a millstone to be wrapped around their necks and for them to be thrown in the deepest part of the sea... What did he do in the temple when the money changers were doing their business? He overturned their tables, chased them out, and called them a den of Thieves... when our Lord Jesus Christ returns like a Lion he will judge and it will be a harsh judgment... I am a true Orthodox Christian...
JJ9/9/2021 4:01 pm
"....Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man - out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ....." The tenor of these comments is far from Christian and such comments are not worthy of an Orthodox website. Regardless of what one believes about dignitaries in the Church/es any criticism should be exercised with restraint. The comments are strongly emotive, accusatory and political in tone. Political issues belong in the political realm. Christ came to transform, not judge, and true Orthodox believers follow Christ's example.
Mikhail 9/8/2021 4:59 am
I wonder if they saluted the rainbow flag before the meeting. I am looking forward to the day that he unites with his good green buddy, Francis...so that the Orthodox Church can move on without him.
Alex9/8/2021 3:02 am
Well, on the bright side...at least Bartholomew has left Ukraine!
Panagiotis9/8/2021 12:59 am
The Church of England I believe ordains so-called women priests and so-called women bishops.... How can this be when women are not allowed in the altar of an Orthodox Church, I.E. in the True Church of Christ which is The Orthodox Church they are not permitted in the altar..... What a joke... If the Orthodox Church ordains women deacons or women priests then the Church will be finished and we will be like the weak protestants... this is what feminism does, feminism is the great disaster, not so-called environmental pollution and this other green nonsense... They need to wake up and smell the coffee...
ACatharina9/7/2021 9:04 pm
Yeah, next meeting they will tell you that you can no longer eat meat, export and import goods, build and own houses, own pets, that you can no longer travel or drive car, that you should have only limited access to water and electricity, etc. ...and whoever is against the green agenda is a planet-murderer and selfish person. Go shake hands with Klaus Schwab and his Lucifer-adoring friends.
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