Environment | Lifeways > Christianity
Summary. Catholic and Orthodox church leadership joined forces in declaring that Christians have an obligation to care for the earth. This proclamation may in part be a response to the scripture that states a time will come when those who destroy the earth will be destroyed. (see Revelations 11:18) An article published by The Independent in 2002 states:
“Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew will together sign a declaration warning that the world faces an environmental and social crisis, asserting that Christians have a particular responsibility to combat it, welcoming the rise of environmental consciousness and laying the foundations for developing a joint “environmental ethos”. Senior clerics say it is the first time that two church leaders have signed a joint declaration of action of this kind. … The service and the signing come at the climax of a series of floating symposia during the last seven years, the brainchild of the Patriarch, whose enthusiasm for environmental issues has led to him being dubbed the ‘Green Pope.’ He first took another ferry through the Aegean to the island of Patmos in 1995 for the 1,900th anniversary of the writing of the Book of Revelation. There the Orthodox Church formally declared pollution to be a sin. Subsequent voyages have included a circumnavigation of the Black Sea and a voyage down the Danube immediately after the Kosovo war.” [More…]