Κοινὴ δήλωση Οἰκουμενικοῦ Πατριάρχη -Πάπα Φραγκίσκου μὲ ἀφορμὴ τὴν «Παγκόσμια Ἡμέρα Προσευχῆς γιὰ τὴ Φροντίδα τῆς Δημιουργίας»

Ἡ 1η Σεπτεμβρίου τηρεῖται τόσο στὶς Καθολικὲς ὅσο καὶ στὶς Ὀρθόδοξες Ἐκκλησίες ὡς Παγκόσμια Ἡμέρα Προσευχῆς γιὰ τὴ Φροντίδα τῆς Δημιουργίας. Φέτος, οἱ ἡγέτες τῶν δύο Ἐκκλησιῶν θὰ ἐκδώσουν μία κοινὴ δήλωση ποὺ θὰ καλέσει ὅλους νὰ «κρατοῦν μία στάση σεβασμοῦ καὶ εὐθύνης ἀπέναντι στὴ δημιουργία». 

Τὴν Παρασκευή, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος καὶ ὁ Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαῖος θὰ ἐκδώσουν ἕνα κοινὸ μήνυμα γιὰ τὴν Παγκόσμια Ἡμέρα Προσευχῆς γιὰ τὴ Φροντίδα τῆς Δημιουργίας. Κατὰ τὴ διάρκεια τῆς γενικῆς ὁμιλίας τὴν Τετάρτη, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος ἀπευθύνθηκε... σὲ ἐκείνους ποὺ ἔχουν ἐπιρροὴ γιὰ νὰ «ἀκούσουν τὴν κραυγὴ τῆς γὴς καὶ τὴν κραυγὴ τῶν φτωχῶν, ποὺ ὑποφέρουν περισσότερο λόγω τῆς ἀνισόρροπης οἰκολογίας». 

Ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς προσευχῆς θεσπίστηκε ἀπὸ τὴν Ὀρθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία τὸ 1989 ἀπὸ τὸν προκάτοχο τοῦ Βαρθολομαίου Πατριάρχη Δημήτριο A’. 

Τὸ 2015, ὁ προσωπικὸς ἀπεσταλμένος τοῦ Βαρθολομαίου, Μητροπολίτης Περγάμου Ιωαννης Ζηζιούλας, ἦταν ἕνας ἀπὸ τοὺς ὁμιλητὲς στὴν παρουσίαση τῆς ἐγκυκλοπαίδειας ὁρόσημο Laudato si ', του Πάπα Φραγκίσκου γιὰ τὴν περιβαλλοντικὴ οἰκολογία. Στὸ ἔγγραφο, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος ἐπαίνεσε τὸ ἔργο τοῦ οἰκουμενικοῦ πατριάρχη γιὰ τὸ περιβάλλον. 

Ὁ Μητροπολίτης πρότεινε σὲ ὅλες τὶς χριστιανικὲς ἐκκλησίες νὰ ξεκινήσουν νὰ σηματοδοτοῦν τὴν ἡμέρα, σὰν μία οἰκουμενικὴ χειρονομία. 

Ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος ἀμέσως ἀγκαλίασε τὴν ἰδέα καὶ ἀποφάσισε νὰ καθιερώσει τὴν Παγκόσμια Ἡμέρα Προσευχῆς γιὰ τὴν Φροντίδα τῆς Δημιουργίας στὴν Καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία τὸν ἴδιο χρόνο. 

Στὴν ἐπιστολή του μὲ τὴν ὁποία ἀνακοινώνει τὴν ἀπόφαση, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος εἶπε ὅτι ὁ ἐτήσιος ἑορτασμὸς θὰ προσφέρει στοὺς πιστοὺς καὶ τὶς κοινότητες μία εὐκαιρία νὰ ἐπαναδιαβεβαιώσουν τὸ προσωπικό τους κάλεσμα νὰ γίνουν ἀγωνιστὲς τῆς δημιουργίας, νὰ εὐχαριστήσουν τὸν Θεὸ γιὰ τὰ ὑπέροχα ἐργόχειρα ποὺ ἀνέθεσε στὴ φροντίδα μας, νὰ ἱκετεύσουν γιὰ τὴν προστασία τῆς δημιουργίας καθὼς καὶ τὴ χάρη του γιὰ τὶς ἁμαρτίες ποὺ διαπράττονται ἐναντίον τοῦ κόσμου στὸν ὁποῖο ζοῦμε. 

"Ὁ ἑορτασμὸς αὐτῆς τῆς Ἡμέρας, τὴν ἴδια ἡμερομηνία μὲ τὴν Ὀρθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, θὰ ἀποτελέσει πολύτιμη εὐκαιρία γιὰ νὰ μαρτυρήσουμε τὴν αὐξανόμενη κοινωνία μας μὲ τοὺς ὀρθόδοξους ἀδελφούς μας", γράφει ὁ Πάπας ἐκείνη τὴν ἐποχή. "Ζοῦμε σὲ μία ἐποχὴ ποὺ ὅλοι οἱ Χριστιανοὶ ἀντιμετωπίζουν τὶς ἴδιες ἀποφασιστικὲς προκλήσεις, στὶς ὁποῖες πρέπει νὰ ἀνταποκριθοῦμε ἀπὸ κοινοῦ, προκειμένου νὰ εἴμαστε πιὸ ἀξιόπιστοι καὶ ἀποτελεσματικοί. Ἐλπίζω ὅτι αὐτὴ ἡ Ἡμέρα θὰ περιλαμβάνει κατὰ κάποιο τρόπο καὶ ἄλλες ἐκκλησίες καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικὲς κοινότητες καὶ θὰ γιορτάζεται σὲ ἕνωση μὲ παρόμοιες πρωτοβουλίες τοῦ Παγκόσμιου Συμβουλίου Ἐκκλησιῶν ». 

Ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχή, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος ἔχει σφυρηλατήσει ἕναν ἰσχυρὸ δεσμὸ μὲ τὸν Βαρθολομαῖο. Ὁ Οἰκουμενικὸς Πατριάρχης συναντήθηκε μὲ τὸν παπὰ τὸν ἑπόμενο χρόνο, ὅταν ἐπισκέφθηκε τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὅπου ὑπέγραψαν κοινὴ δήλωση. 

Ἀργότερα τὸ 2014, ὁ Βαρθολομαῖος φιλοξένησε τὸν Πάπα Φραγκίσκο στὴν Κωνσταντινούπολη καὶ οἱ δύο θρησκευτικοὶ ἡγέτες ἐπισκέφθηκαν μαζὶ πρόσφυγες στὸ ἑλληνικὸ νησὶ τῆς Λέσβου - ποὺ βρισκόταν κοντὰ στὴν ἀκτὴ τῆς Τουρκίας - τὸν Ἀπρίλιο τοῦ 2016. Τὸν Σεπτέμβριο τοῦ 2016, ὁ Βαρθολομαῖος συναντήθηκε μὲ τὸν Φραγκίσκο στὴν Ἀσίζη σὲ Εἰρηνευτικὸ συνέδριο. 

Τὸν Ἀπρίλιο τοῦ 2017, ὁ Πάπας Φραγκίσκος, ὁ Βαρθολομαῖος καὶ ὁ ἐπικεφαλῆς τῆς Κοπτικῆς Ἐκκλησίας - προσευχόταν μαζὶ στὸ Κάιρο τῆς Αἰγύπτου. 

Τὸ μήνυμα τῆς Παρασκευῆς θὰ εἶναι ἡ πρώτη κοινὴ δήλωση ποὺ θὰ σηματοδοτεῖ τὴν ἡμέρα ποὺ ἐξέδωσαν κοινὴ δήλωση οἱ ἡγέτες τῶν καθολικῶν καὶ ὀρθόδοξων κοινωνιῶν, ἐνῶ μέχρι σήμερα ὁ καθένας ἐξέδιδε δική του δήλωση. 

Μετάφραση τοῦ http://www.orthodoxia-ellhnismos.gr/2017/08/blog-post_79.html

POPE FRANCIS AND PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO ISSUE JOINT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/08/30/pope-francis-patriarch-bartholomew-issue-joint-environmental-statement/

September 1 is observed in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This year, the leaders of both Churches will issue a joint statement inviting everyone “to take an attitude of respect and responsibility towards creation.”

On Friday, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew will issue a joint message to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

During his general audience on Wednesday, Francis appealed for those with influence to “listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer most because of the unbalanced ecology.”

The day of prayer was instituted by the Orthodox Church in 1989 by Bartholomew’s predecessor, Patriarch Demetrios I.

In 2015, Bartholomew’s personal envoy, Metropolitan John Zizioulas, was one of the speakers at the presentation of Laudato si’, Francis’ landmark encyclical on environmental ecology. In the document, Francis praised the ecumenical patriarch’s work for the environment.

Zizioulas suggested that all the Christian churches start marking the day together, as an ecumenical gesture.

Francis immediately embraced the idea, and decided to institute the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church the same year.

In his letter announcing the decision, Francis said the annual commemoration would offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.

“The celebration of this Day, on the same date as the Orthodox Church, will be a valuable opportunity to bear witness to our growing communion with our Orthodox brothers and sisters,” the pope wrote at the time. “We live at a time when all Christians are faced with the same decisive challenges, to which we must respond together, in order to be more credible and effective. It is my hope that this Day will in some way also involve other Churches and ecclesial Communities, and be celebrated in union with similar initiatives of the World Council of Churches.”

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Francis has forged a strong bond with Bartholomew. The ecumenical patriarch attended the papal installation, and met with the pope the next year when he visited Jerusalem, where they signed a joint declaration.

Later in 2014, Bartholomew hosted Francis in Istanbul, and the two religious leaders together visited refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos - located off the coast of Turkey - in April 2016. In September 2016, Bartholomew met with Francis in Assisi, for an interfaith peace congress.

In April 2017, Francis, Bartholomew, and Pope Tawadros II - the head of the Coptic Church - prayed together in Cairo, Egypt.

Friday’s message will be the first joint statement marking the day issued by the leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox communions; previously each had issued their own individual statement.

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Pope, Orthodox patriarch issue joint plea for care of creation

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/pope-orthodox-patriarch-issue-joint-plea-for-care-of-creation.cfm

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Together with the head of the Orthodox Church, Pope Francis urged people to be respectful and responsible toward creation while being aware of how disrupted ecosystems impact the poor.

To mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation Sept. 1, the pope said he and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople "prepared a message together."

Although the text was not published immediately, Pope Francis told people at his general audience Aug. 30 that the message would be an invitation to all people "to adopt a respectful and responsible approach toward creation."

"Furthermore," he said, "we appeal to those who hold an influential role to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer more because of ecological imbalances."

Pope Francis instituted the world day of prayer for the Catholic Church in 2015, joining with the ecumenical patriarchate, who has observed the Sept. 1 day of prayer since 1989.

The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis said when he instituted it, is to be a time for individuals and communities to "reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live."

If Christians are to make their special contribution to safeguarding creation, they must rediscover the spiritual foundations of their approach to what exists on earth, beginning with an acknowledgment that "the life of the spirit is not dissociated from the body or from nature," but lived in communion with all worldly realities, he had said.