322
L. Rydén
led to a 1979 conference on “Faith, Science and the Future” at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Cambridge, in the United States.
The focus on sustainability has been more intense in the 1990s and later. The
WCC has been a participant at all UN conferences on SD and both influenced the
outcome of these conferences and itself being influenced by them, from the 1992 Rio
conference on environment and development, UNCED, where WCC was one of the
participants, up to the Paris 2015 COP 21 of the UNFCCC. The main agenda was
however from the 1980s and later Peace and International Justice, and the situation
of the so-called 3rd world countries. In the long term it was thus the fight for social
justice which dominated WCC.
3 The Orthodox and Catholic Churches
There is a clear difference in tradition between the Roman Catholic and Lutheran
Churches on one side and the Orthodox Churches on the other, going back to their
origins. While in the “western” Roman Catholic tradition, and even more so the
Lutheran churches, focus is on action, in the “eastern” or orthodox theology focus is
on being. Human is seen as being present in the world or being part of Nature and the
world. The Orthodox Church is there to bear witness on man’s presence in Nature
(Brander 2002).
This has great consequences for how the two Churches relate to the environmental
crisis which became imminent in the 1950s and 1960s. In the Word Council of
Churches it was in particular the Indian theologian Paulos Gregorios who introduced
and developed the understanding of the ecological crisis as a spiritual crisis, a break
in our connection to Earth and our environment.
There is a binding unity and continuity that we share with all of God’s creation. In recent
years, we have been reminded of this truth with flora and fauna extinction, with soil and
forest clearance, and with noise, air and water pollution. Concern for the environment is not
an expression of superficial or sentimental love. It is a way of honoring and dignifying our
creation by the hand and word of God. (Chryssavgis 2007)
Since the 1990s the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul has contributed
in very decisive ways to the responsibility of the Orthodox religion for the environmental crisis. He earned the title “Green Patriarch” as a religious leader addressing
alarming environmental issues over at least two decades “defining environmentalism
as spiritual responsibility” (Ejdersten 2016).
The Ecumenical Patriarch’s initiatives to protect the environment, derives from
the ancient values of the Orthodox Church. He declares that environmental abuse is
sin:
To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin. For human beings to cause species to
become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings
to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth
of its natural forests, or by destroying its wetlands; for human beings to injure other human
L. Rydén
led to a 1979 conference on “Faith, Science and the Future” at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Cambridge, in the United States.
The focus on sustainability has been more intense in the 1990s and later. The
WCC has been a participant at all UN conferences on SD and both influenced the
outcome of these conferences and itself being influenced by them, from the 1992 Rio
conference on environment and development, UNCED, where WCC was one of the
participants, up to the Paris 2015 COP 21 of the UNFCCC. The main agenda was
however from the 1980s and later Peace and International Justice, and the situation
of the so-called 3rd world countries. In the long term it was thus the fight for social
justice which dominated WCC.
3 The Orthodox and Catholic Churches
There is a clear difference in tradition between the Roman Catholic and Lutheran
Churches on one side and the Orthodox Churches on the other, going back to their
origins. While in the “western” Roman Catholic tradition, and even more so the
Lutheran churches, focus is on action, in the “eastern” or orthodox theology focus is
on being. Human is seen as being present in the world or being part of Nature and the
world. The Orthodox Church is there to bear witness on man’s presence in Nature
(Brander 2002).
This has great consequences for how the two Churches relate to the environmental
crisis which became imminent in the 1950s and 1960s. In the Word Council of
Churches it was in particular the Indian theologian Paulos Gregorios who introduced
and developed the understanding of the ecological crisis as a spiritual crisis, a break
in our connection to Earth and our environment.
There is a binding unity and continuity that we share with all of God’s creation. In recent
years, we have been reminded of this truth with flora and fauna extinction, with soil and
forest clearance, and with noise, air and water pollution. Concern for the environment is not
an expression of superficial or sentimental love. It is a way of honoring and dignifying our
creation by the hand and word of God. (Chryssavgis 2007)
Since the 1990s the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul has contributed
in very decisive ways to the responsibility of the Orthodox religion for the environmental crisis. He earned the title “Green Patriarch” as a religious leader addressing
alarming environmental issues over at least two decades “defining environmentalism
as spiritual responsibility” (Ejdersten 2016).
The Ecumenical Patriarch’s initiatives to protect the environment, derives from
the ancient values of the Orthodox Church. He declares that environmental abuse is
sin:
To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin. For human beings to cause species to
become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings
to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth
of its natural forests, or by destroying its wetlands; for human beings to injure other human