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[Translation
from the Greek Original]
Protocol No. 915
BARTHOLOMEW
BY THE MERCY OF GOD,
ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME,
AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
TO THE PLEROMA OF THE CHURCH: GRACE AND PEACE FROM THE CREATOR OF ALL
CREATION OUR LORD
AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
Brothers and Sisters and beloved children in the Lord,
When Paul the Apostle to the Nations advised the Thessalonians to "give
thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess. 5:18), he also counselled
them to "always rejoice, and pray without ceasing" (1 Thess.
5:16-17), thus demonstrating that thanksgiving as prayer and everlasting
joy go together and coexist inseparably. Truly, the one who gives thanks
experiences the joy that comes from the appreciation of that for which
he or she is thankful, and from the overabundance of joy they turn toward
the giver and provider of the good things received in grateful thanksgiving.
Conversely, the person who does not feel the internal need to thank the
Creator and Fashioner of all the good things of this very good world,
but ungratefully and egocentrically receives them -- when the person is
indifferent toward the one who provided these good things and thus worships
the impersonal creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25) -- that
person does not feel the deep joy of receiving the gifts of God, but only
sullen and animalistic satisfaction. Such a person is given over to irrational
desires, to covetousness, and to "robberies from injustice"
(Isaiah 61:8) that are despised by God. As a result, that person will
undergo the breaking "of the pride of his power" (Leviticus
26:19), and will be deprived of the sublime, pure, and heavenly joy of
the one who gives thanks gratefully.
The belief that every creature of God created for communion with human
beings is good when it is received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3-4),
leads to respect for creation out of respect for its Creator; it does
not fashion an idol out of creation itself. The person who loves the Creator
of a given work cannot be disrespectful toward it nor maliciously harm
it; but certainly neither does a person worship it while disregarding
the Creator (Romans 1:21). Rather, by honoring it, one honors its Creator.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, having ascertained that natural creation
commonly referred to as "the environment," which in recent times
has to a great extent been maliciously harmed, has undertaken an effort
that strives to sensitize every person -- especially Christians -- to
the gravity of this problem for humanity and particularly to its ethical
and theological dimension. For this reason, the Patriarchate has established
the first day of September each year, which is the natural landmark of
the yearly cycle, as a day of prayer for the environment. This prayer,
however, is not merely a supplication and petition to God for the protection
of the natural environment from the impending catastrophe that is being
wrought by humankind, but it is also in thanksgiving for everything that
God in His beneficent providence offers through creation to both the good
and the wicked, the just and the unjust.
The saints of the Christian Church and other sensitive souls, illumined
by the divine light that enlightens everyone who comes into the world
(John 1:9), providing that he or she sincerely and unselfishly desires
to receive this light (John 1:11-12), have acquired great sensitivity
to all evil that harms any creature of God, and consequently to every
element that makes up our natural environment.
The saints are models for every faithful Christian to imitate, and their
sensitive character is the ideal character toward which we all are obliged
to strive. However, because not everyone has this same refinement, those
who are responsible for the education of the people must continually teach
them what must be done. In light of this, we applaud with great satisfaction
the proposal of the Committee on the Environment of the World-wide Federation
of Organizations of Engineers, which met in Thessalonike during the Third
International Exhibition and Conference on Technology of the Environment,
that a binding "Global Code of Ethics" for the environment be
drafted.
For its part, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in addition to proclaiming
September 1 as the annual day of prayer for the environment, successfully
organized "Symposium II: the Black Sea in Crisis," in collaboration
with other interested parties. In continuation of this effort, the Patriarchate
established the Halki Ecological Institute, which was held successfully
this year, and which aims at preparing capable people in the countries
and churches surrounding the Black Sea to strive in their respective regions
to rouse their leaders and people concerning the danger of the impending
death of the Black Sea and the general threat of irreparable and harmful
damage to the environment. For this reason, the Patriarchate is currently
preparing a Third International Ecological Symposium, this time on the
Danube, which is a significant source of the pollution for Black Sea,
and which has also undergone enormous ecological alterations and disasters
because of the recent dramatic bombings.
In addition to the ecological and environmental disasters effected by
humankind, natural ones have also occurred, such as the recent earthquakes
that have struck Turkey. Despite the fact that oftentimes the consequences
of these natural occurrences are determined by factors for which humans
are responsible, the Church fervently beseeches God to show mercy and
compassion on human responsibility, and to show His righteousness and
goodness both to those responsible and those not responsible.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is fully aware that the end of the second
Christian millennium has been sealed by sad and exceptionally destructive
occurrences which transpired mainly in Yugoslavia and Turkey, but which
also continue to occur in varying degrees in other parts of our planet.
This is principally due to the fact that the internal spiritual environment
of the conscience of each person has not become good, nor has it changed
for the better by the grace of God, due to the human ego opposing the
beneficent influence of this grace. For this reason, along with the invitation
to all that they respect the natural environment each for his or her own
benefit since it is a gift from God to all humankind, the Ecumenical Patriarchate
appeals to all that they amend their feelings toward their fellow human
beings. Only in this way will the eternal, unchangeable, all-compassionate
and merciful God be able to positively influence the free will of the
human person and avert the disastrous man-made activities upsetting the
balance of the environment.
We recognize that heaven and earth pass away, but the laws of God are
eternal and unchangeable as is God Himself. But we also know that the
law of God is found in the authority of man to determine, to a great extent,
the path his life takes.
For this reason, we summon both ourselves and each other to work toward
the good in all areas, and especially in the area of the environment,
which in the final analysis is that realm which refers first of all to
our fellow human beings, and then to natural creation.
In closing, we invoke the grace and blessing of God upon everyone who
works toward the good, and upon those who out of ignorance or human weakness
do evil, we invoke divine illumination and the great mercy of God, so
that they might come to full knowledge and be converted. Amen.
September 1, 1999
[Seal of the Archbishop of Constantinople]
[Signed: Your beloved brother in Christ and fervent supplicant before
God, B(artholomew)
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