Bartholomew I of Constantinople

Spiritual life requires proper veneration -and not an absolute worship- of the creation of God. Our relationship with material things reflects our relationship with God. (…)

We need to extract resources with moderation and frugality, cultivate them with love and humility, and protect them according to the scriptural command of ‘serve and preserve’ (Genesis 2, 15). In an impeccable natural environment, humanity discovers a proclaimed peace and a spiritual rest. (…)

The problem of the environment is not, first of all, an issue of ethics or morale. It is an ontological question that demands a new way of being and a new type of attraction. The repentance implies, precisely, a radical change of life, a new look, a new vision. The Greek word metanoia means an inner transformation that inevitably implies a change in the world’s vision.