Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
September 1 is the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year and, as well as the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment, as Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios of blessed memory designated it in 1989.
Every year on this day, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issues a Patriarchal message reminding the faithful worldwide of our sacred obligation to care for the natural environment, and of the spiritual cost of neglecting and abusing it. This year, as in other years, His All-Holiness has once again given us the benefit of his courageous and prophetic insight upon this all-important issue.
Please take the time to read and meditate upon His All-Holiness’ Patriarchal Message for the Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year and the Solemn Day of Prayers for Natural Environment, which you can find here. In it, His All-Holiness explains how “the multidimensional contemporary ecological crisis is a crisis of human freedom, of our religion and philosophy, of our ethos and our culture.”
This all-important message, addressed to “the entire plenitude of the Church,” should be distributed as far and wide as possible. Please be sure to inform your fellow parishioners and all Orthodox Christians with whom you may come in contact of His All-Holiness’ important address. And above all, read and heed his words with the attention and respect they deserve.
Yours in the service of our Holy Mother Church,
Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis
The Archon Grand Aktouarios
National Commander
