In his message for September 1, the beginning of the Orthodox liturgical year and a solemn day of prayer for the natural environment, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople emphasized that “every act of war is also a war against creation inasmuch as it is a grievous threat against the natural environment.”
“The struggle for human rights cannot ignore the fact that these rights are threatened by climate change, by the shortage of potable water, fertile soil and clean air, but also by ‘environmental degradation’ in general,” wrote the Ecumenical Patriarch, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, as he chronicled the ecological effects of the war in Ukraine.
“Before all these challenges, the Holy Great Church of Christ continues its struggle for the integrity of creation, in full knowledge that its concern for the natural environment is not merely an added activity in its life, but its essential expression and realization as an extension of the Holy Eucharist in every form and dimension of our good witness in the world,” he added.