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Ecumenical patriarch and Pope sign declaration on the environment
2002-155-4
6/18/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople and Pope John Paul II used a video hook-up to sign a statement on June 10 urging increased efforts to protect the environment, calling on Christians to proclaim moral values and educate people in environmental awareness.
The patriarch, first among equals in the Orthodox churches, was in Venice at the end of his fourth cruise intended to call attention to the environmental problems of the Adriatic and raise awareness of 'the state of Europe's waters.' He made similar cruises on the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Danube River in recent years.
Observers suggested that the 'shared concern for nature' might help improve relations between Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, strained in recent years over territorial issues, especially in former republics of the Soviet Union. Bartholomeos plans to send a delegation to Rome for an ecumenical ceremony celebrating the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, observed by both churches on June 29, and the patriarch himself plans to visit Rome next year.
During a June 9 angelus at the Vatican, the pope described the joint declaration as 'another example of that sharing of intentions which is the prelude to a renewed and full communion.' The pope has spent considerable energy in recent years reaching out to the Orthodox, with mixed results.
'It's not too late,' their statement concluded. 'God's world has incredible healing powers. Within a single generation, we could steer the earth towards our children's future. Let that generation start now, with God's help and blessing.'
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