Ecological Crisis

September 21, 1997

The contemporary ecological crisis in its diverse forms has been characterized and indeed is the most immediate threat not only for the overthrowing of the functional balance of our ecosystem, but also for the continuation of life on our planet. The hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, the pollution of the atmosphere, the defilement of the terrestrial and underground water-table, and in general all of the principal and consequent phenomena which, in a particularly intense manner bear upon the contemporary ecological problem in every concrete place, have already been pointed out at the international and local level by the appropriate international organizations and by informed, sensitive local representatives, both governmental and other.

The impressive presence and the warm reception accorded to the international ecological symposium by the political, religious and intellectual leaders of the lovely city of Batumi, give expression to the agony, common to us all, concerning an ongoing acute problem, the universality of which is lived out with its painful consequences in every particular place and by every particular people. The impressive response, however, of the people to this initiative of the international ecological symposium confirms not only the wider consciousness of the tragic dimensions of the environmental crisis, but also the people’s wholehearted disposition to contribute in every useful way towards the protection of their environment.

The beautiful city of Batumi, with its surrounding region, was always a major crossroads of peoples, religions and cultures. Commerce, in previous times, and thriving industry in more recent years, were influenced to a great extent by the city’s natural link with the Black Sea, which was indeed a “Hospitable Sea” for all the people of the North and the South, the East and the West. Today, the beautiful coastline of the surrounding region of the city, which becomes crowded with thousands of tourists during the summer months, is in danger of losing its attraction because of the dangerous pollution of the Black Sea, into which radioactive and other harmful waste is emptied not only from countries surrounding the Black Sea coast, but even from those further a field.

The Black Sea, with the uncontrolled and continuous outlet of radioactive and other kinds of waste from European countries, is in danger of being labeled as the most polluted sea in Europe. This has particularly dangerous consequences, not only for the peoples of the entire Black Sea area, but for all the Eastern Mediterranean, unless the necessary measures are taken in due time for its vital protection. The uncontrolled influx of radioactive and destructive waste-matter, primarily from countries to the north and the west, with principal channels the major rivers, just as the impossibility of their disposal through the very small and shallow outlets of the waters of the Black Sea, have rendered the deeper sections of its sea bed a dangerous depot of the waste of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

A Cry of Agony

The theme of this international ecological symposium is a responsible cry of agony for the visible danger of total catastrophe for the Black Sea, that natural source of life for all the peoples of the Black Sea region. The undertaking of the Symposium by ship, with scientific reports presented by eminent scientific personalities combines, on the one hand, the living link with the problem and the necessary proposals for its solution, and on the other hand, the contact with the appropriate political and intellectual leaders of the Black Sea region, who live out the painful consequences of the continuously aggravated environmental crisis and who are willing to join us in the attempt to overcome the threat or disaster.

The formulation of the main theme of the Symposium is in the form of a question. Obviously, this is not because the eventual danger is uncertain, but because our cooperation for the aversion of the danger must be constant and must be proclaimed in every quarter as a cry of agony for the future of the peoples of the Black Sea region. In this common effort, science will offer the correct processing of the necessary proposals for the control of the influence of radioactive and other polluted waste; religion will enhance the common conscience for every believer of our personal responsibility before God for guarding the integrity of divine creation; and the political leadership of the peoples will support, through every useful means, the protection of the natural resources of life for all the peoples of this region.

Scientific research observes that the Black Sea is in danger, political leadership becomes receptive to the messages of the dangerous threat, and the peoples live out these tragic consequences in their everyday life. The reversal of this crisis is undoubtedly difficult, because it has become too much involved with the vicious circle of a consumer interpretation of the link between humanity and the ecological environment, but it is more than ever necessary, even if many years of hard struggle are needed. The cooperation of religious leaders with all the other factors and all the deployable means at their disposal, for the effective confrontation of this serious problem, will give to concrete proposals the dynamism of the faith of the peoples involved for the protection of the ecosystem from the plundering mania of contemporary humanity.