Aspects of the ecological thinking and action of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople*
For the past forty years or so, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has been undertaking important initiatives aimed at raising awareness on environmental protection issues. This can be due, to a large extent, to Patriarch Bartholomew, who, immediately after his election to the throne of the Great Church of Christ (October 22, 1991), got actively involved in raising awareness among governments and citizens of the need to preserve the natural environment. It is not by chance that he is often referred to as “the Green Patriarch” by the international media.
The first initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in this direction, however, are observed during the days of Patriarch Demetrios I (1972-1991) when, among other things, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate declared September 1st, the first day of the ecclesiastical year, as a day of prayer and supplication for the protection of the natural environment. This eloquently demonstrated that the Ecumenical Patriarchate shares the concern of modern man** for the protection of the environment. The faithful are called on that day to pray to God to protect His Creation not only from various natural and unforeseen phenomena, but above all from some uncontrollable human proclivities and desires, especially of certain groups who squander the world’s natural wealth, while irreparably polluting the natural environment.
Patriarch Bartholomew continued the awareness-raising effort with the same intensity and determination as his predecessor. He introduced, with the cooperation of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a series of ecological seminars at the Theological School of Chalki Island in the Sea of Marmara, aimed at promoting dialogue between the scientific community, civil society and the Orthodox Church. Also, from 1995 to the present, six international symposia have been held onboard naval vessels, with the aim of protecting the corresponding bodies of water, namely the Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Danube, Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea and the Amazon. These symposia provided the opportunity for expert scientists, representatives of various religions, environmental civil society organizations and intergovernmental organizations to participate, with a view to codifying ecological problems and formulating corresponding proposals for addressing them.
Moreover, every year, on the occasion of the Day for the Protection of the Natural Environment (September 1st), the Ecumenical Patriarch addresses paternal messages for the salvation of Nature, intervenes with his speeches in international bodies, takes initiatives at an interreligious, inter-Christian and interdisciplinary level and generally sympathizes and prays with all of humanity for the protection of the Creation. All this he does, as he himself states in one of his messages, not for the utilitarian purpose of limiting the risks from the pollution of the natural environment, which would simply seek to prolong life on our Earth, but so that we can manage to radically revise our relationship with the Creator and His Creation.
Humanity, according to Patriarch Bartholomew, has a special mission entrusted to it by God: to protect and preserve the Creation. However, he who is called to preserve does not have the right to destroy. For this reason, the Church must remind humanity that it is the co-manager and protector of the natural environment. Furthermore, man must not forget that the environment belongs to all living beings and to future generations, and that he will be called to account for any indifferent or harmful behavior on his part. But how will man manage to redefine his relationship with the natural environment? The Patriarch supports the obvious: that this can be achieved, par excellence, through repentance, which, however, must be accompanied by practical actions that will express the authentic ethos of the Church. Specifically, he speaks about the adoption of the eucharistic, ascetic and liturgical ethos of the Orthodox Church.
The person who feels gratitude towards God expresses similar gratitude and respect towards all His creations. Furthermore, the voluntary renunciation by humanity οf the satisfaction of consumer wants allows people to face the world with a eucharistic attitude towards God, as well as towards their fellow human beings and the Creation. This voluntary renunciation is made possible through the virtues of fasting, austerity and asceticism, which in the Orthodox Christian Tradition are the most “ecological” virtues. At the same time, the liturgical ethos of the Orthodox Church highlights the need for the faithful to manifest at every moment the communal character of the Eucharist. That is, to realize at every moment their duty as Christians for a fair sharing of the goods of the Creation, as well as for undertaking all those initiatives that will confirm in practice their interest in the protection of the Creation.
Ecology, according to Patriarch Bartholomew, acquires a deeper meaning and essence when it embraces the whole, that is, when it is inclusive. The term “inclusive ecology” refers to an ecology that goes beyond the “innocent” preoccupation with the ecological crisis, which refers to some of its consequences but not to its specific causes. This term became better known and was discussed more widely on the occasion of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato si’” (2015) and his proposal for an “inclusive ecology”. The Pope aligns himself with the visions of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to whose contribution, in fact, he himself makes explicit and specific reference in “Laudato si” (paragraphs 7, 8, 9) as “a remarkable example” of initiative and concern for the environment outside the Roman Catholic Church.
Following on the footsteps of his predecessor, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has advanced further the ecological teachings and initiatives of the Orthodox Church, of which he is the spiritual leader. The extent to which this has led to significant changes in mindsets and attitudes of the 300-or-so million of Orthodox Christians around the world is difficult to establish. “The Green Patriarch” has certainly captured the imagination of scientists, environmental activists and authorities well beyond the confines of the Orthodox Christian world and has added a spiritual dimension to the voices for respecting and preserving the natural environment, or God’s Creation, as the Patriarch himself puts it.
For further reading
Chryssavgis, John. 2007. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: insights into an Orthodox Christian worldview. International Journal of Environmental Studies 64 (1): 9–18
Chryssavgis, John. 2013. A New Heaven and a New Earth: Orthodox Christian Insights from Theology, Spirituality and the Sacraments, In: John Chryssavgis, ed. Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration. Orthodox Christian Perspectives on Environment, Nature and Creation, 152–162. New York: Fordham University Press.
Gschwandtner, Christina M. 2010. Orthodox ecological theology: Bartholomew I and Orthodox contributions to the ecological debate. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church 10: 1–15
Japundžić, Antun. 2022. The Ecological Efforts of the “Green Patriarch”, Bogoslovni Vestnik 82 (1): 161-170
Leśniewski, Krzysztof. 2011. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s “Green Message” to the World. Roczniki Teologii Ekumenicznej 58 (3): 33-48.
Maros, Alexander. 2017. The ecological Theology of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. International Journal of Orthodox Theology 8 (1): 146–177.
Theokritoff, Elizabeth. 2009. Living in God’s Creation: Orthodox perspectives on ecology. Crestwood: St Vladimir Press.
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*The present article is based on the author’s presentation on The Green Patriarch at an event organized by sparta.komvos in Sparta, Greece on 24 November 2024 – you can find the recording of the event here.
**The term “man” is used in this article in a Biblical, generic sense, to refer to the human being and is not gender-specific.
About the author
Dimitrios Th. Vachaviolos holds a PhD in Byzantine Studies from the University of Ioannina, Greece, and teaches Byzantine History and Culture as Laboratory Teaching Staff at the University of the Peloponnese, Greece. His research interests concern Byzantine ecclesiastical history and culture.
