ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I

Abstract

The article examines the ideas of environmentalism in the works and statements of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. The ecological concept of the "Green Patriarch" reveals the relations between religion and the environment. The cause of the environmental crisis is recognized as a crisis of spirituality. It is argued in the concept that utilitarian logic and ethics are not enough to change human behavior towards the environment – ecological thinking requires another worldview that can be found in religion. In particular, from the point of view of Orthodox spirituality, the environment is a miracle of the Divine creation. Therefore, the world is a sacred place, a miracle, a place of beauty and communication with the Creator. Awareness of the beauty and harmony of the cosmos involves understanding the balance and measure. The way to achieve them is asceticism. The latter is realized through self-control, which is manifested in the balanced consumption and use of only the necessary resources and the abandonment of abusive consumption for the benefit of others. The universal principle of the philosophy and ethics of the environment is the instruction to preserve resources for future generations; this is repeatedly emphasized in the speeches and works of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.