Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, addressing the Templeton Prize award ceremony for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in New York, underlined the Patriarch’s global reputation and his pioneering contribution to environmental awareness. The Greek Premier stressed that the Ecumenical Patriarch combines deep faith with a genuine appreciation of science, research, and the great eternal questions, highlighting the ongoing dialogue between religion, philosophy, and science. He also referred to his long personal acquaintance with Patriarch Bartholomew.
Read the full speech below:
Your All Holiness, dear members of the Templeton Philanthropies, dear Mr. Vice President, distinguished guests,
It is indeed a great pleasure and an honour to stand tonight amongst you. Much has been said by the Vice President about the work of his All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, not to mention the personality that drives that work.But today is about something much more specific, the Patriarch’s vitally important initiatives on the protection of the environment. I’m truly delighted that John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Templeton Religion Trust have chosen this moment to recognise that work by awarding him with a Templeton Prize for 2025.
And when you consider that the inaugural Templeton recipient was none other than Mother Teresa back in 1973, then it isn’t very hard to appreciate the esteem in which the Ecumenical Patriarch and his work is held. And the Templeton family of Foundations has, of course, a very long history of honouring spiritual quests, promoting religious understanding and intellectual humility, and recognising the importance of honest discussion around science, philosophy, culture, and theology.
The Ecumenical Patriarch represents a great heritage which the Greek Orthodox faith has left us. On the one hand, a deep belief, and on the other hand, also a deep understanding of the ancient Greek and Byzantine worlds, including a profound and very, very deep appreciation of science, of research, and the great eternal questions surrounding human existence: what do we believe in? What is the role of religion, philosophy or science? Does faith in religion hinder or help faith in science?
I’ve been privileged to know His All Holiness since 1992, so five years earlier than you, dear Vice President. I met him when I was still very, very young, and I have been blessed over these many years to seek his counsel and his advice, in particular, since I became Prime Minister.
Thank you, your All Holiness, for always providing a degree of incredible moral clarity and the guidance at times when things in the world seem to be spinning out of control. You have truly added your own personal mark to the modern version of the heritage that you represent.
And you have been one of the first, if not the first global spiritual leader, to underline the need for a true environmental dimension in our thinking. You saw the signs very early before you wrote your book that so much influenced me to take climate change seriously.
Dear Mr. Vice President, you pointed to the alarming environmental degradation all about not just by climate change, but by this consumerism represented by modern society.
In doing so, you defined environmentalism not just as a practical, a necessary solution, but also as a spiritual responsibility. You have rightly earned the title ‘Green Patriarch’. You have loudly proclaimed what you see as supremacy of spiritual values in determining environmental ethics. You have been a pioneer of environmental awareness in action.
You’ve driven this awareness tirelessly through numerous symposia, gatherings, speaking about the challenges that we face in a different language from the one that we usually use, but with a force and a power of conviction that I think has converted many to your cause.
I think at a time when the climate reality is really hitting us, look at just what’s happening in our country, in Greece, the wildfires, the floods, the constant challenges of managing the changing environment, at a time when, again, there are still people doubting the science behind climate change, your words of wisdom are that much more necessary.It is a great, great honour to be standing in front of you today, introducing you and congratulating you on this very well-deserved prize. And may you always retain this strength, this inner strength, to speak about these topics in the lucid manner that you always do.
Again, my deepest congratulations for this award, your All Holiness.
Source: ANA-MPA, Photos: EUROKINISSI
