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Pastoral Letter for the Day of Care for Creation

no name given · Griechisch-Orthodoxe Metropolie von Deutschland · 2026-09-07 · Bonn · Source

Responsibility · main message Repentance · carrying Gratitude

The ecological crisis is a consequence of human alienation from the source of life and requires a fundamental turn in the idea of progress and in the attitude toward nature.

The multifaceted ecological crisis of our time is a crisis of human freedom, of the religion and philosophy of man, of his ethos and his culture.

The text defines the ecological crisis as a deeper crisis of human freedom, religion, and culture. It argues that destructive behavior toward nature results from an alienation from the source of life. Gratitude is expressed for the initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate since 1989, which illuminate the spiritual dimensions of the problem. These initiatives include ecological symposia, interreligious dialogues, and statements by the Church of Constantinople. The text emphasizes the necessity of a 'Copernican turn' in the idea of progress and in the attitude toward nature. This turn concerns those responsible in politics, economics, science, education, as well as churches and religions. The goal is to point out new ways of coping with the crisis and to fundamentally change the actions of humanity.

Worldview

what this means
What, according to this text, is the root of the evil?
Turning away from God, indifference, idolatry; Ignorance, illusion, a false view of reality
Where does the evil reside?
in the heart, the will, or the soul of the individual
What helps against it?
inner transformation, repentance, a change of mind; insight, learning, enlightenment, right understanding
What is human being according to this text?
fallen, not able to be made whole by one's own strength
Where is history heading?
a turning point, a coming, a new order is about to arrive
What does the text base its claim on?
on a present head, teacher, or office; on tradition, the fathers, an established practice
To whom does the text's call for devotion apply?
to every human being, regardless of faith
Where is the text's criticism directed?
explicitly at both

Related texts from other traditions

by similarity of the analysis, one text per tradition

What the text calls for

Measured

Basic stance
1 from -2 to 2
Insistence
2 of 3
Reach
5 of 5
Concreteness
2 of 3
Boundary
0 of 3
Time
past 1, present 3, future 2

Analysed with qwen/qwen3.8-27b, version v3. The same standards apply to every tradition, see Values.

Full text in English
The multifaceted ecological crisis of our time is a crisis of human freedom, of the religion and philosophy of man, of his ethos and his culture. The destructive attitude towards the natural environment is preceded by the “distortion” of our freedom – our separation and alienation from the source of life. Only from this does the environmentally harmful behavior grow. We feel deep gratitude for the pioneering initiatives and interventions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which have taken place uninterruptedly from 1989 to the present, not only having highlighted the spiritual dimensions of the ecological problem, but also having opened up new paths and perspectives for its management. The ecological symposia, the corresponding intra-Christian and interreligious dialogues, the concrete statements of the Church of Constantinople on environmental issues, the emphasis on the social dimensions and consequences of the ecological crisis, as well as numerous other initiatives, constitute a powerful contribution to environmental ethics. In this context, the undeniable necessity of a “Copernican turn” in the understanding of the idea of progress and in the attitude of humanity towards nature is particularly emphasized. This turn also concerns the actions of decision-makers in politics, economy, and society, of churches and religions, of science and technology, as well as of the education and upbringing of the young generation.
Full text in the original
Die vielschichtige ökologische Krise unserer Zeit ist eine Krise der menschlichen Freiheit, der Religion und der Philosophie des Menschen, seines Ethos und seiner Kultur. Der zerstörerischen Haltung gegenüber der natürlichen Umwelt geht die „Entstellung“ unserer Freiheit voraus – unsere Trennung und Entfremdung von der Quelle des Lebens. Erst daraus erwächst das umweltschädigende Verhalten. Wir empfinden tiefe Dankbarkeit dafür, dass die wegweisenden Initiativen und Interventionen des Ökumenischen Patriarchats, die von 1989 an bis heute ununterbrochen stattfinden, nicht nur die geistlichen Dimensionen des ökologischen Problems aufgezeigt, sondern auch neue Wege und Perspektiven zu seiner Bewältigung eröffnet haben. Die ökologischen Symposien, die entsprechenden innerchristlichen und interreligiösen Dialoge, die konkreten Stellungnahmen der Kirche von Konstantinopel zu Umweltfragen, die Hervorhebung der sozialen Dimensionen und Folgen der ökologischen Krise sowie zahlreiche weitere Initiativen bilden einen kraftvollen umweltethischen Beitrag. Dabei wird insbesondere die unabweisbare Notwendigkeit einer „kopernikanischen Wende“ im Verständnis des Fortschrittsgedankens und in der Haltung der Menschheit gegenüber der Natur betont. Ebenso betrifft diese Wende das Handeln der Verantwortungsträger in Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, der Kirchen und Religionen, der Wissenschaft und Technologie sowie der Erziehung und Bildung der jungen Generation.