Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis launch Chair of Ecology at Pontifical University

Rome, October 8, 2021

Photo: greek.vema.com.au Photo: greek.vema.com.au     

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Pope Francis co-launched the new UNESCO Chair on Futures of Education for Sustainability at the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome in a ceremony at the university yesterday.

The Chair is named for both the Pope and the Patriarch, reports greek.vema.com.au.

Responding to current challenges requires a new way of learning and doing that is built on “openness, creativity, wider educational offerings, but also sacrifice, dedication, transparency and honesty in choosing, especially in these difficult times,” the Pope said during the ceremony, reports the National Catholic Reporter.

The attitude that “it’s always been done this way” is “suicide,” the Roman pontiff continued.

The launch of the Pope Francis-Pat. Bartholomew-UNESCO Chair coincided with the launch of a new academic program dedicated to “Care for our common home and safeguarding creation.”

Pat. Bartholomew said the initiatives reflect the collaboration between the two “sister churches” and their commitment to work to protect “God’s wonderful universe.” They also reflect a needed interreligious and interdisciplinary approach to the urgent environmental challenges of today, especially concerning climate change, he added.

Pope Francis also praised Pat. Bartholomew’s decades of ecological work.

On Monday, participants in a religious leaders’ summit in Rome, including Pope Francis, Pat. Bartholomew, and His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk of the Moscow Patriarchate, and representatives of non-Christian religions, made a joint appeal to the international community to take urgent measures to protect and heal the environment.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

10/8/2021

Comments
Gary10/9/2021 3:59 pm
Did I read metropolitan Hilarion was with Bartholomew? I hope and pray the Russian Orthodox Church doesn't submit to Constantinople. This is depressing. The saving the environment thing is actually a joke the way they go about it. If we really think it's good to lessen our " carbon footprint " then we need to follow the prescribed fasts of the Church. It takes waaaay less resources to produce plant food than meat for food. And we could drive our cars a little slower, it's easy to use 20 to 25% less gas by not driving so aggressively. Oh, we can't do that though. It puts a hardship on people. We need a Bart/Pope statement to set it right. This is all so ridiculous!
Mikhail10/8/2021 11:07 pm
Two Marxists calling each other "sister churches". Perfect.
Antiochene Son10/8/2021 10:44 pm
Imagine if our hierarchs worked this hard to save souls! The church might not be hemorrhaging young people.
Steve10/8/2021 9:19 pm
Thank God the Russian Church would never do such a thing!
Panagiotis10/8/2021 7:31 pm
Can someone please tell me anywhere in Scripture that Jesus said anything about "protecting" the environment or ecology?... I am wondering if this should be called the "Chair of Nonsense".... Just wondering and just my opinion...
Alexander Leitner10/8/2021 6:50 pm
Patriarch Bartholomew is free to join the RC Church.
Menas10/8/2021 2:39 pm
Can someone just depose him already
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×