The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the Cathedral of Strasbourg on the afternoon of Monday, January 27, where he was warmly welcomed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Strasbourg, Pascal Delannoy.
In his response, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his thanks for the heartfelt and honorable reception.
Immediately afterward, the Ecumenical Patriarch visited the University of Strasbourg, where he was greeted by the University Chancellor, Michel Deneken, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Marc Feix, as well as professors and other officials of the institution.
In front of a large audience, the Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a significant speech in French on the topic, “The Tripartite of Freedom: Ecology-Human Rights-Peace. An Orthodox Approach,” in which he said, among other things:
“We are proud because the Ecumenical Patriarchate was the first Church to promote the ecological message of Christianity, to understand and present the ecclesiastical life as “applied ecology”. The Ecumenical Patriarchate’s concern for the natural environment was not simply a reaction to the contemporary ecological crisis. This was only the occasion, not the cause, for developing its ecological traditions in due time. The protection of the natural environment is a consequence and extension of everything we experience in the Church, whose entire life has an ecological essence and reference. The Church, in itself, is a victory against all those attitudes that, ideologically and practically, produce alienating tendencies, such as greed, the self-deification of man, indifference to others, and to future generations, among others.
Modern man, despite unprecedented progress in many areas of culture, science, technology, and social organization, cannot feel proud of his stance toward nature. He has created the ecological problem, and although he knows the magnitude of the environmental threat, he does not heed it, he does not change his behavior, and he continues to believe that the planetary ecosystem can endure and has the power to restore itself. With ideological cover for this illusion, senseless geo-genocide continues, in the service of geopolitical plans, economic interests, and a distorted idea of development and progress.
Climate change, or rather the climate crisis, which is the culmination of the contemporary ecological problem, is not a “future scenario”, but a tangible and painful reality. The fact that climate changes have always existed on Earth is not a reason for complacency, as it is certain that the contemporary ecological problems—such as the rapid decrease in biodiversity, the pollution of the seas and the atmosphere, the rise of ocean levels, extreme weather phenomena, the social consequences of the ecological crisis such as water scarcity and food crises, migratory flows due to climate reasons, and many other related issues—are all anthropogenic in origin. The destruction of the natural environment begins in the mind of man, and therefore, from there the healing must begin. What is needed is a “Copernican shift” in the spiritual realm and our value system, a radical change in mentality. Otherwise, we will treat the symptoms of the crisis, while the source of the woes remains active and unscathed.” [Read here the full text of the Patriarchal speech in Greek.]
In the evening, the Ecumenical Patriarch blessed the dinner held in his honor at the Patriarchal residence by the Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the Council of Europe, Georgios Yiangou. The event was attended by former Greek Prime Minister, George A. Papandreou, members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, former ministers, the Greek Judge at the ECHR, Ioannis Ktistakis, diplomats, and many more.
On the morning of the same day, the Ecumenical Patriarch attended and spoke at an Inter-Christian meeting held at a building of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Today, Tuesday, January 28, the Ecumenical Patriarch, along with his distinguished entourage, returned in the afternoon to Constantinople.
