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“When we come together as Christians in ecumenical fellowship and solidarity, we are many times swept up in the human temptation to speak about ourselves, about our own understanding of the Church, about our own spiritual experiences and ecclesial traditions, and miss the extraordinary opportunity to be reconciled to each other and all of creation through the mercy of the Philanthropos, the Lover of Humankind, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.”
With the above words, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon began his speech at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.
Emmanuel stressed that this meeting in Karlsruhe, offers a unique opportunity “to explore and witness how Christ’s sacrificial love acts in our world to bring peace to the afflicted, healing to the wounded, and union to the divided. Our world finds itself at the threshold of death, suffering, and disunion, but it is on account of God’s love for the whole of creation and His Church that we live in expectation of our union with Him.”
Metropolitan Elder Chalcedon referred to the value of dialogue, which “transforms and redistributes the many gifts God has given us, creating an intrinsically radical, yet beautifully elemental reality that fulfills God’s desire for us all to participate in the mystery of union realized and rooted in the Holy Trinity”.
He added that environmental care and climate change constitute challenges that pertain to the sanctity of life, justice, and our human responsibility to be good stewards of our world in crisis.
As he commented, we are already seeing the crisis in the weather, from which no nation and no people have escaped. All are affected, but all also must be part of the solution. Challenges are not meant to fester unsolved. Challenges bring suffering but compel action through the hope found in unity.
Emmanuel stressed that the challenges of ecological degradation and climate change are not solely the consequence of globalization, made manifest in geopolitics and economics, but have been justified by misguided philosophy and theology.
And he asked: “we not misled in seeing ourselves as masters and possessors of nature, just as we are misled in seeing ourselves as masters and possessors of the faith? Just as nature is not to be exploited for self-gain, our faith should not be either.”
Metropolitan Emmanuel concluded his speech with the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: To reconcile is above all to heal the evils of history, the scars of time, mutual misunderstandings, conflicts of memory, and fratricidal hatreds. In this sense, the division between Christians to which we intend to respond by praying for the unity of the Churches is a spiritual wound, with shared responsibilities—whether accepted or not.”
Read below the speech of Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon:
“Purpose of God’s love in Christ for the whole creation – reconciliation and unity”
Thursday, September 1st, 2022“For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
When we come together as Christians in ecumenical fellowship and solidarity, we are many times swept up in the human temptation to speak about ourselves, about our own understanding of the Church, about our own spiritual experiences and ecclesial traditions, and miss the extraordinary opportunity to be reconciled to each other and all of creation through the mercy of the Philanthropos, the Lover of Humankind, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Coming together in Karlsruhe, during this 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, offers us a unique opportunity to explore and witness how Christ’s sacrificial love acts in our world to bring peace to the afflicted, healing to the wounded, and union to the divided. Our world finds itself at the threshold of death, suffering, and disunion, but it is on account of God’s love for the whole of creation and His Church that we live in expectation of our union with Him.
As we journey together on the road to reconciliation and unity, our collective vocation of dialogue calls us to set aside any and all forms insularity and parochialism to instead welcome the neighbor, the “other”, and the stranger into our midst with the same hospitality shown by the great Patriarch Abraham. In a gesture of thanksgiving and remembrance, dialogue transforms and redistributes the many gifts God has given us, creating an intrinsically radical, yet beautifully elemental reality that fulfills God’s desire for us all to participate in the mystery of union realized and rooted in the Holy Trinity. Even while dialogue is not the end, but the means by which the end is achieved, our journey towards unity is just as important as the unity which we so yearn. In dialogue, we travel together towards the Kingdom by healing the wounds of the past, dispelling the anxieties of the present, and tempering our fears of the future. We march forward on the road of reconciliation in order to live in the grace of the Logos. As we walk with Christ, we marvel at the immediacy of His presence among us and recognize that we as the Body of Christ are being transformed “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). As Saint John Chrysostom petitioned in the Divine Liturgy that bears his name:
Lord, You have granted us to offer these common prayers in unison and have promised that when two or three agree in Your name, You will grant their requests. Fulfill now, O Lord, the petitions of Your servants as may be of benefit to them, granting us in the present age the knowledge of Your truth, and in the age to come eternal life.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I would like to focus these modest remarks on the protection of the environment, as it is an icon of God’s love and of our commitment to unity in Christ. On this day in particular, September 1st, many Christian Churches as well as the World Council of Churches have joined the Ecumenical Patriarchate in praying for the protection of God’s creation. Last year, in September 2021, His Holiness Pope Francis, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the Right Reverend Justin Welby Archbishop of Canterbury declared with one voice that:
[The] path [towards Christ] requires an ever-closer collaboration among all churches in their commitment to care for creation. Together, as communities, churches, cities, and nations, we must change route and discover new ways of working together to break down the traditional barriers between peoples, to stop competing for resources and start collaborating.
Environmental care and climate change constitute challenges that pertain to the sanctity of life, justice, and our human responsibility to be good stewards of our world in crisis. The word “crisis”, in Greek, means “judgment.” It is true that these issues point to the consequences of our global systems of consumption and if we do not act now from a place of humble and sober judgement, we will be brought to account. We see it already in extreme weather events that have not spared any nation or people. All are affected, but all also must be part of the solution. Challenges are not meant to fester unsolved. Challenges bring suffering, but compel action through hope found in unity. How then can we think of environmental care and climate change as challenges pertaining to life, justice, and responsibility in a manner that is connected to our faith in Christ?
Today, the challenges of ecological degradation and climate change are not solely the consequence of globalization, made manifest in geopolitics and economics, but have been justified by misguided philosophy and theology. Are we able to see that the climate crisis we face so prevalently today is so close in form and essence to our challenge as an ecumenical body, seeking communion in Christ through our reunion? Are we not misled in seeing ourselves as masters and possessors of nature, just as we are misled in seeing ourselves as masters and possessors of the faith? Just as nature is not to be exploited for self-gain, our faith should not be either. As sisters and brothers in Christ, we are called to abide in the vine (John 15:5) so that we may bear fruit; the fruit of which is not ours, but Christ’s who as the Logos inexplicably and mercifully enables and emboldens us to be imperfect purveyors of His Truth. In that, we must become the “faithful and prudent” (Luke 12:42) stewards of creation God has called us to be. In short, to realize our faith means protecting humanity and in protecting humanity we must protect creation.
Allow me to conclude with the words of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: “To reconcile is above all to heal the evils of history, the scars of time, mutual misunderstandings, conflicts of memory, fratricidal hatreds. In this sense, the division between Christians to which we intend to respond by praying for the unity of the Churches is a spiritual wound, with shared responsibilities—whether accepted or not.”
In our aspiration for reconciliation and unity among Christians, we must see the necessity of an ecological conversion for the protection of God’s creation as one that is both elemental to and extends beyond our ecumenical commitment to each other. In that manner, it is by our prayers and labors as stewards of God’s Church and His Creation that we may live out the words of the epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy: “Your own of Your own we offer to You, in all and for all.”Thank you for your kind attention.
