Indiction Day 2010

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Hong Kong, September 1st, 2010

Press Release

Photo: His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew holds baby lambs.

Indiction Day

! Since1992theSynodofallOrthodoxPatriarchsandPrimates,calledbyHisallHolinessEcumenicalPatriarchBartholomewatthePhanarinConstantinople,endorsed1Septemberas

adayofpan-Orthodoxprayerfortheenvironment.

Unfortunately, we tend to forget our connection to the earthand our environment.There is a binding unityand continuity thatwesharewith all ofGodscreation. Inrecentyears,wehavebeenremindedofthistruthwithJloraandfaunaextinction,withsoilandforestclearance, andwith noise, air and waterpollution. Concern for the environment is not an

expression of superJicial or sentimental love. It is a way of honoring and dignifying our

704 Universal Trade Center, 3 Arbuthnot Road, Hong Kong-Tel: (00852) 25738328-Fax: (00852) 25738379Website: www.omhksea.org email: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.omhksea.org/http://www.omhksea.org/


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creation by the hand and word of God. It is a way of listening to the groaning ofcreation(Rom.8.22).

Wetendtocallthiscrisisanecologicalcrisis,whichisafairdescriptioninsofarasitsresultsaremanifestedintheecologicalsphere.Yet,thecrisisisnotJirstofallecological.Itisacrisis concerning thewayweperceivereality, thewayweimagineorimageourworld.Wetreatourplanetinaninhuman,god-forsakenmannerpreciselybecauseweseeitinthisway,preciselybecauseweseeourselves in thisway. EcumenicalPatriarchBartholomewoffers arefreshing,alternativewayofseeingourselvesinrelationtothenaturalworld.

Asareligiousleader,theEcumenicalPatriarchsinitiativestoprotecttheenvironment

areworthy of emulation. Hisworldview, derived from the ancient values of the OrthodoxChurch,deservesattention.



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MessageofHisallHolinessEcumenicalPatriarchBartholomewforIndictionDay.

BARTHOLOMEWBythemercyofGod

ArchbishopofConstantinople,NewRomeandEcumenicalPatriarch

GraceandpeaceuntothePlenitudeoftheChurchFromtheFashionerofAllCreation

OurLordandGodandSavioresusChrist

BelovedChildreninLord,

Ourever-memorablepredecessor, thelatePatriarchDemetrios,whopossessedadeep

awarenessofthegravityof the environmentalcrisis, as well asofthe responsibility ofthe

Churchtodirectlyandeffectivelyconfrontthecrisis,issuedtheJirstofJicialencyclicaldealing

with the protectionof thenatural environment more than two decades ago. Through this

encyclical, theMotherChurchofJiciallyestablishedthedateofSeptember1st,-thebeginning

oftheecclesiasticalyear-asadayofprayerfortheprotectionoftheenvironment,declaringit

totheplenitudeoftheChurchthroughoutthelengthandbreadthoftheworld.

Atthattime,ourChurchinsightfullyemphasizedthesigniJicanceoftheeucharisticand

ascetic ethosofour tradition, thatmanifests our most important andmost crucial unique

contribution toward the proper and universal struggle for the protection of the natural

environment as a Divine Creation and shared inheritance. Today, in the midst of an

unprecedented Jinancial crisis, humanity is facingmany and diverse trials. But this trial is

relatednotonlyto our individualhardships;this trial affectseveryaspectofhumansociety,

especiallyourbehavior andperceptionof thesurroundingworldandthewaywerankour

valuesandpriorities.

Itisimportanttonotethat thecurrentgrievousJinancial crisismaysparkthemuch-

reported and absolutely essential shift to environmentally viable development; i.e., to a

standard of economic and social policy whose prioritywill be the environment, and not

unbridledJinancialgain.Letusallconsiderasanexamplewhatmayhappentocountriesthat

aresufferingtodayonaccountoftheJinancialcrisisandpoverty,suchasGreece,whichatthe704 Universal Trade Center, 3 Arbuthnot Road, Hong Kong-Tel: (00852) 25738328-Fax: (00852) 25738379

Website: www.omhksea.org email: [email protected]


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same time have exceptional natural riches: unique ecosystems, rare fauna and Jlora andnatural resources, exquisite landscapes, abundant sunlight and wind. If ecosystems

deteriorate and disappear, natural sources become depleted, and landscapes suffer

destruction, andclimatechangeproducesunpredictableweatherconditions, onwhat basis

willtheJinancialfutureofthesecountriesandtheplanetasawholedepend?

Wehold, therefore, that thereis a direneedinour dayforacombinationofsocietal

sanctionsandpoliticalinitiatives,suchthatthereisapowerfulchangeindirection,toapathof

viableandsustainableenvironmentaldevelopment. ForourOrthodoxChurch,theprotectionoftheenvironment,asadivineandverygood

creation, embodies agreatresponsibilityforeveryhumanperson, regardlessofmaterial or

Jinancial beneJits. The direct correlation of theGod-given duty andmandate, to work and

preserve,witheveryaspectofcontemporarylifeconstitutestheonlywaytoaharmoniousco-

existencewitheachandeveryelementofcreation, andtheentiretyofthenaturalworldin

general.

Therefore,wecall uponallofyou, belovedbrethrenandchildren intheLord, totake

partinthetitanicandrighteousbattletoalleviatetheenvironmentalcrisis,andtopreventthe

evenworseresultsthatderivefromitsconsequences.Letusmotivateourselvestoharmonize

ourpersonalandcollectivelifeandattitudeswith theneedsofnatures ecosystems, sothat

every kindof faunaand Jlorain theworld andin the universemay liveand thrive andbe

preserved.

September1st,2010YourbelovedbrotherinChristandferventsupplicantbeforeGod,

+BARTHOLOMEWofConstantinople



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In Chinese:

,Demetrios,

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Indiction Day 2010