On Friday October 10, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (Greek Orthodox Patriarch) addressed a Synaxis of the heads of the various orthodox churches in Istanbul Turkey.

Part of his address focused on urging orthodox churches to focus on efforts to promote inter-religious dialogue, as well as to protect the environment.

Patriarchs and other senior clergymen from Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Syria and Turkey were in attendance.

The statement read in part:

…the modern world is unfortunately plagued by a crisis that cannot be reduced to inter-personal relations but extends to the relationship between humanity and the natural environment…

Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the Church cannot remain idle before the crisis that affects humanity in relation to the natural environment. It is our obligation to assume every possible initiative… so that our own flock may become aware of the demand for respect toward creation by avoiding any abuse or irrational use of natural resources…

This call to arms by the leaders of the world’s second largest Christian denomination will hopefully have significant impacts on the treatment of environmental issues within Christian Orthodox faith communities.

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