It is indeed a pleasure to address this auspicious gathering of the Young Presidents Organization towards the closing of your international conference in our historical and magnificent city of Istanbul. We therefore express our gratitude to the organizer of this conference, Chairman of the Istanbul Family University, Mr. Metin Mansur, for this blessed opportunity and to you all in advance for your patient attentiveness.
As you prepare to return to your responsible positions in your respective countries, we would like to remind you of certain global realities affecting our modern world. In our presentation this morning, we would like to bring to your attention two fundamental concerns, which must be considered from a variety of perspectives – not only social or political, economic or global, but also from a religious and spiritual point of view. We shall hopefully encourage you to appreciate and approach in an open-minded and open-hearted manner, critical issues such as the protection of the environment and the respect of human and religious rights.
For, these are concerns that revolve around the topics of religious tolerance and combating racism, xenophobia an unfavorable discrimination. This topic, as well as the protection of our environment, are major issues that concern us deeply which have to be addressed through dialogue and affirmative action towards achieving a peaceful world and a pure natural environment for the sake of present and future generations. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has been an active proponent of promoting these concerns, determined to contribute in a positive way to the contemporary challenges.
Thus, recent Patriarchal Encyclicals depict the Orthodox Christian views of the application of tolerance and coexistence among all people on our planet Earth. The emphasis of the Encyclicals is on the scriptural understanding that all human beings are created in the image of God, and as Children of God are endowed with the gift of freedom and the right to live in peace, in an environment which respects the fragility and perfection of our valuable ecosystem.
The Protection of the Environment is a fundamental issue of the most importance. In recent years, we have learned some important lessons about caring for the natural environment. We have also learned that the way we respond to the natural environment is directly related to and reflected in the way we treat human beings. What we do for the earth is intimately related to what we do for people – whether in the context of human rights, international politics, poverty and social justice or world peace. The readiness of some people to exploit the environment as the “flesh of the world” goes hand in hand with their willingness to ignore human suffering in the flesh of our neighbour. By analogy, willingness to respond the needs of creation and our neighbour reflects our willingness to respect the commandments of God.
Despite a visible increased sensitivity towards environmental issues during the recent years, we have to admit that we continue to ignore some fundamental issues of human welfare. Yet, we carry on to be careless and guilty of relentless waste. In reality, extending our concern towards our natural environment implies and necessitates a change also in our attitudes and practices towards Mother Nature, as well as to our fellow human beings. The world is a gift from God, and it is offered to us for the purpose of protecting and sharing it. It has not been created so that we appropriate it selfishly, but rather to preserve it humbly. The way that we relate spiritually to God is interwoven with the way we approach natural environment and we treat, here on earth, our fellow human beings. To separate the two would amount to nothing else than hypocrisy. In this context and in order to help us discern this simple but fundamental truth, our beloved Jesus Christ chose to be born in a manger.
In our efforts for the preservation of the natural environment, we cannot avoid asking ourselves some difficult questions such as “just how prepared we are to sacrifice our excessive lifestyles in order for others to enjoy the basic right to survive”? What are we prepared to surrender in order to learn to share? When will we learn to say : “Enough!” ? How can we direct our focus away from what we want to what the world and our neighbour need? Do we, as individuals, do all that we can to leave as light a footprint as possible on this planet for the sake of those who share it with us and for the sake of future generations? Today, these are no excuses for our lack of involvement. Breaking the vicious circle of ecological degradation is a choice with which we are uniquely endowed, at this crucial moment in the history of our planet. We have access to detailed and instantaneous information; alarming statistics are readily available. If we emphasize our freedom to engage in a careless lifestyle and habits, then we must remember that caring is one of the choices we are free to make. Do we choose to care?
The position of our Church on this crucial matter derives from its teachings and from the heart of theology. It dictates us to be active in the protection of God’s creation, the ecumenical earth. As early as 1992, we proposed to the heads of all Orthodox Churches that September 1st of each year be fixed as a special day of prayer for the environment and for saving our planet. We believe that the protection of environment is a provision for today’s mankind and future generations, and the care for it, is a command from God. Ecological work, therefore, is part of our religious mission.
Owing to a growing awareness of the impending environmental catastrophe, the Ecumenical Patriarchate voiced its environmental concerns in the most clear terms. In 1994, we convened the Environmental and Religious Education Seminar in Heybeli, at the site of the closed Theological School of Chalki. Since 1995, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened six water-borne symposia to study the fate of waters, which cover seven-tenths of the earth’s surface. We have brought together scientists, environmentalists, policy-makers and religious leaders aiming to high light crucial and specific issues. In this way we have been trying to draw attention of the world community to the degradation of the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Danube River, the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Amazon River. Our 7th Symposium entitled “The Arctic : Mirror of Life” is scheduled to take place in Greenland in September 2007.
Another major challenge facing our modern societies relates to the quality of the interactions of human beings and ethnic and religious groups. It is a sad truth that the Twentieth Century surpassed all the previous centuries in terms of the magnitude of destruction, violence and cruelty. The two World Wars, more than 200 large-scale wars and arm conflicts have unfortunately claimed 300 million lives during the last Century.
The violence of totalitarian, illiberal, nationalist and undemocratic regimes and religious bigotry led to a culture of war which is nurtured with the creation, improvement and spread of weapons of mass destruction.
It is extremely unfortunate that in many conflict situations, religion is often manipulated or exploited, leading to eruption of hostility and violence. Religious fanaticism is based on false pretences, deriving from one sided, dogmatic interpretations of various religions teaching. Yet, a closer look demonstrates that many religions and cultures have numerous common values and rules.
Examining the history of civilization in this light, we come to the following unequivocal conclusion : mankind has to make a transition from the culture of war and violence to a culture of peace and harmony. Both present and future generations have the right to live in peace and enjoy the fruits of prosperity and development. We have a moral responsibility to bequeath to future generations a culture of peace and tolerance.
We have to promote in a more systematic way moral and spiritual values based on God’s word and humanitarian principles.
It is a contradiction of our times that the culture of war coexist side-by-side with huge technological advancements and global economic development. Yet so long as this contradiction is not addressed, the world will be a fragile place to live, festered with crises and upheavals.
To remedy this situation, it is of paramount importance to engage in a dialogue fostering tolerance and understanding for respective traditions, religious preferences, ethnic and cultural diversities.
In this spirit, both unofficial dialogues, conducted on a personal level between followers of the world’s great religions, and formal dialogues, organized internationally by religious leaders and institutions, have struggled to clarify centuries-old misunderstandings, while gradually preparing people’s hearts and minds for the possibility of peaceful coexistence and cooperation among all people. Can there be anything more precious in the eyes of God than this struggle to communicate and relate? Is there truly anything more valuable for the future of humankind?
The sense of working and living together in peace and solidarity signifies a profound respect for each person and culture as unique and unrepeatable. Genuine dialogue recognizes the inviolable right of every human being to follow a personal journey of faith, hope and love.
Accordingly, we approach dialogue in a spirit of love, sincerity and honesty. In this respect, dialogue implies equality, which in turn implies humility. Honesty and humility dispel hostility and arrogance.
According to St. John Crysostom (347-407), fourth-century Archbishop of Constantinople, God is always in personal dialogue with human beings. God always speaks : Through Prophets and Apostles, through saints and mystics, even through the natural creation itself; for, “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19.1). True dialogue is a gift from God to mankind and a fundamental experience of life : from childhood, through education, to maturity. Through dialogue knowledge and science are promoted, truths and emotions are revealed, fears and prejudice are abolished, bonds are cultivated and horizons are broadened. Dialogue enriches; whoever refuses dialogue remains impoverished.
In this spirit, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has initiated and sponsored numerous interfaith encounters and conversations with representatives of Islam, Judaism and other Christian denominations. As we are situated in our glorious City, we live at the crossroads of East and West, and thus we have a unique perspective on the world’s religions and cultures. In this spirit our dialogue with representatives of the Muslim faith was initiated in 1986, searching in common for ways of cooperation an communication, as well as peaceful coexistence, by means of mutual respect an religious tolerance. A similar dialogue takes place with Judaism.
In the meantime, the inter-faith dialogue we engage in extends to the other Christian denominations and our Church is a staunch supporter and founding partner of the ecumenical movement. The recent glorious visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Phanar testifies the positive results achieved through an ongoing inter-faith dialogue between Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church.
We have conducted dialogues in Bahrain, in Iran, in Qatar, in Libya, in Azerbaijan, in Kazakhstan. As we pointed out in Vienna in 2005, the conflicts between Christians and Muslims that are mentioned throughout history have their roots in politics and not in religion. Every time religion has been used for inciting enmity and misfortunes, it has been a case of taking advantage of the masses and misleading them into actions of intolerance and fanaticism.
In this light, we have been engaged in a continuous dialogue much before September 11, attempting to bridge the religious and cultural gaps. Together with the American Foundation of Appeal of Conscience, we have signed the Bosphorus Declaration in 1994 with cosignators a long list of Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders. Quite prophetically, the Bosphorus Declaration stated that “a crime committed in the name of religion, is the greatest crime against religion”. We had the opportunity to reiterate this very message in a new Peace and Tolerance Conference held in Istanbul in 2005. In this vein, we participated and initiated Several Conferences with a view to promote tolerance, in a world where manifestations of ethnic, religious, cultural and political intolerance are abundant.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate aptly rejects fundamentalism as degrading the human person and destructive to peace. Religious extremists and terrorists may be the most false prophets of all for they commit violence and crime in the name of religion.
In conclusion, let us reiterate that dialogue and conversation are necessary preconditions for mutual understanding, and mutual understanding is a precondition for mutual trust, which in turn necessary ingredient for cooperation and coexistence. In this sense, we believe that we have made our contribution and we are confident that we are going to continue in the path of serving to the advancement of the cause of mutual tolerance upon which human rights are resting. As far as the environment is concerned, let me close with the words of the former US Vice-President Al Gore, who recently attended a conference in Istanbul, marking 30 years of WWF, who quoted us saying “the imposition of modern society which is totally disinterested in human impact on the environment, not only impedes sustainable development but it is also utterly unjust”.
