Ecumenical Patriarch: Society cannot prosper when the environment suffers

In his important message, the Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the leading role that the Orthodox Church has taken on for 30 years in matters of the natural environment, organizing international interfaith and interdisciplinary symposia as well as the synergies it develops for these issues with leaders such as Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin (Welby) of Canterbury as well as institutions such as the United Nations and the European Parliament.

Explaining the relationship between morality and spirituality and the Forum’s central theme, the circular economy, the Ecumenical Patriarch stated in his message that the term “economy” was the same term by which theologians define the history of his love and compassion for the world, the “divine economy.”

For the “neighborhood policy,” which is also the subject of the Forum, he stated that this policy was the basis of the teaching of Christ, “which implies that there can be no resolution to climate change unless we appreciate how we do impact others, especially the poor.”

Concluding his message, the Patriarch stated: “In order to secure a sustainable future, ecology must be incorporated into economic theory. Unless we reduce global economic inequality, we cannot reduce our negative impact on the planet and its people. Society cannot prosper when the environment suffers. We need an economic system that has a social orientation and ecological consciousness.”