ENVIRONMENT AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

By the grace of God, to whom we express our heartfelt gratitude, we are convening this interfaith gathering in this venerable center of Orthodoxy. We are pleased that it is being held within the hospitable environment of this monastery, where our “alma mater,” the Theological School of Halki once flourished and this year celebrates the 150^th anniversary since its establishment. …

Human beings were created by God to enjoy sovereignty over nature, but not to exercise tyranny over it. Many sectors of society have now recognized that the ecological problem is associated with the moral crisis of the humanity and that the proper use of nature depends on the perception, position, and practice of human beings in relation to the cosmos. According to the ancient saying, “humanity is the measure of all things.”

Now that we have been awakened to the impending destruction of nature, and to all that this implies, how has society responded in recent years? We note here the so-called “plans for peaceful coexistence” (between humankind and nature) along with plans for the “development of the environment.” All these concerns and actions are of course commendable. As we know, however, they are also limited in their effectiveness. For, who will find and apprehend those individuals responsible for forest fires? Who will restrain those who illegally cut down trees? Who and how will we control those unconscionable individuals who pollute our waters, rivers, and seas? Who can restrain the greedy?

We, the Church, must assist willingly, firmly, and extensively, with this pressing and vital concern. We can help by enlightening the conscience of men and women in order to cultivate respect for their fellow human beings and for all created matter. Our goal is to instill in people a sense of feeling as well as a sense of the fear of God so that they may avoid wrongdoing, vulgarity, impropriety, inhumanity, and especially selfish individualism. Usually those who torch forests, those who illegally cut down trees, and those who pollute our shores, are egocentric individuals with hardened hearts, who do so out of greed and for purely utilitarian purposes. A good Christian cannot, rather a good Christian is by conscience not permitted, to destroy nature and the environment. A good Christian cannot be a source of immoral or destructive acts. 

According to Socrates, “virtue is taught.” In conformity with our position, therefore, and following much meditation and thought, we have chosen as the theme of this gathering the relationship between religious education and the natural environment. By restricting the discussion of the conference to religious education, we are neither excluding nor underestimating other forms and levels of secular and parochial education. Our goal – and we beseech the attention of the esteemed participants in this point – is to examine and explore ways and means by which we may sensitize and influence the desires and the attention especially of our students to this most urgent issue.

Education and Parish Action

However, in order that we are not left with empty or vain words, we are of the opinion that our attention must be given to developing programs of practical application. For example, tree-planting initiatives must be undertaken, just as we have done today, and as we did last December on this island. Groups of students may cultivate gardens, while others can care and tend to forest regions. Along with a series of lectures, seminars should be organized with the express purpose of enlightening students on planting procedures, gardening and other similar activities. Other groups of children in our secular, parochial and catechetical schools may adopt vegetable or flower gardens, forested regions, church compounds, abandoned properties or farm regions cultivated for the common good, as well as areas with natural beauty which they will care for on a voluntary basis. Their example can serve to sensitize their parents and elders who can then be motivated to do likewise.

We especially advise the clergy and others in parish ministry to encourage and promote a love for nature, to care for trees and shrubs as well as church properties and cemeteries. It is only fitting that love for the environment begins in the church compound, which must be replete with greenery and flowers in bloom throughout all seasons of the year, “for the creator of beauty has made them all” (Wisdom of Sol. 13.3).

Such beauty of nature is the will of God. Consequently, we are obligated to preserve rather than to destroy the environment. Hence, any destruction of nature clearly constitutes sin. We entreat your attention particularly to these final thoughts. As we read the agonizing warnings of conservationists, geologists, biologists and other specialists, who remind us of the great folly of the violation of nature with its foreseeable tragic consequences, you, my beloved speakers and participants, are today contributing to a momentous and monumental task of timely significance for our planet.

“For God did not create the earth as chaos; rather, He formed it to be inhabited” (Is 45.18). Humanity is obligated therefore not to ravage the earth, creating chaotic conditions with fires and scarcity of water, but rather to develop and enhance it. “You who have nothing to do, plant a tree in the corner of your garden so that others may come and sit there to rest and recollect.” These are the words of Adamo, in a timely song with beautiful orchestral rhythm and harmony. It would be worthwhile for our youthful listeners to find it. Inspired and incited by it, sing it along with your friends as an indication of your ecological concern. In life, only those divinely and enthusiastically inspired, only those who truly love their environment, are able to create the things of God. “Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gen 8.22). You, our beloved children in the Lord, are contributing to the concern for a proper order and legitimate status of the cosmos. Cosmos means decoration; it is defined as a love for beauty and decency. May you, therefore, be blessed by God.

The Least Person can make the Greatest Difference

Permit us to confide in you our thoughts. We do not place much trust in the strong and the mighty, or in people of authority. We believe, rather, in those willing and patient individuals, in those who do not lose sight of their objective, namely the objective for good. Do not forget the acknowledgment of the ancient Greeks that “drops of water can make even rocks hollow.” Many simple people, in various small corners of the earth, with nominal but continuous daily concerns, are able to change the world, even if only slightly, for the better. Today, on the day after Pentecost, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate the triumph of the few, the weak – at least by human standards – holy disciples and Apostles of our Lord, who, empowered by the fire of Pentecost, changed the world some 2000 years ago, for all time, so that today we are preparing to enter the third millennium after Christ. My brothers and sisters, may we continue primarily to cultivate the field of the soul, but also the garden of our home, so that future generations may reap the fruit of our labor.