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founded on Christian ethics and Patristic teaching. Along with her respect for
the freedom of scientific investigation, the Orthodox Church at the same time
points out the dangers concealed in certain scientific achievements and
emphasises man’s dignity and his divine destiny.
8. It is clear that the present-day ecological crisis is due to spiritual and moral
causes. Its roots are connected with greed, avarice and egoism, which lead to
the thoughtless use of natural resources, the filling of the atmosphere with
damaging pollutants, and to climate change. The Christian response to the
problem demands repentance for the abuses, an ascetic frame of mind as an
antidote to overconsumption, and at the same time a cultivation of the
consciousness that man is a “steward” and not a possessor of creation. The
Church never ceases to emphasise that future generations also have a right to
the natural resources that the Creator has given us. For this reason, the
Orthodox Church takes an active part in the various international ecological
initiatives and has ordained the 1st September as a day of prayer for the
protection of the natural environment.
9. Against the levelling and impersonal standardization that is promoted in so
many ways, Orthodoxy proposes respect for the particular characteristics of
individual peoples. It is also opposed the making of the economy into
something autonomous from basic human needs and turning it into an end in
itself. The progress of mankind is not connected only with an increase in living
standards or with economic development at the expense of spiritual values.
10. The Orthodox Church does not involve herself in politics. Her voice
remains distinct, but also prophetic, as a beneficial intervention for the sake of
man. Human rights today are at the center of politics as a response to the
social and political crises and upheavals, and seek to protect the citizen from
the arbitrary power of the state. Our Church also adds to this the obligations
and responsibilities of the citizens and the need for constant self-criticism on
the part of both politicians and citizens for the improvement of society. And
above all she emphasises that the Orthodox ideal in respect of man transcends
the horizon of established human rights and that “greatest of all is love”, as
Christ revealed and as all the faithful who follow him have experienced. She
insists also that a fundamental human right is the protection of religious
freedom—namely, freedom of conscience, belief, and religion, including, alone
and in community, in private and in public, the right to freedom of worship and
practice, the right to manifest one’s religion, as well as the right of religious

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