OPENING ADDRESS by His All-Holiness
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
AWARENESS, ACTION AND IMPACT
A Forum on Modern Slavery
(Istanbul, January 7, 2019)
A Forum on Modern Slavery
(Istanbul, January 7, 2019)
Your Eminences and Excellencies,
Dear representatives of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey and of the Mufti of Istanbul,
Dear friends,
Dear representatives of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey and of the Mufti of Istanbul,
Dear friends,
We welcome and embrace each of you with the blessings and joy of the
new year that is upon us, 2019, especially after having celebrated
together with many of you here in the Queen of Cities the glorious Feast
of Theophany. It is not by accident or coincidence that we gather these
days in our historic city, and within the bosom of the Holy Great
Church of Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The dates for our third
international Forum on modern slavery were intentionally selected, so
that we might be inspired by the afterglow of this sacred period, which
marks the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ.
Thus,
what this period signifies for all Christians throughout the oikoumene
is not exactly a dismantling of older and outdated traditions and
customs, but a new message of hope to a world filled with shadows and
darkness. Essentially, the message of the Christian Gospel is one of
righteousness, equality, justice and truth. And unfortunately for many
around the world today, this very message remains to be heard. Christ,
Himself, revealed that He was anointed and sent “to preach good news to
the poor … to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Lk 4.18) Yet,
after many centuries of progress and advancement, we still live in a
world where injustice and slavery continue to thrive, where human
dignity is exchanged for the sole purpose of greed, gain, and profit.
Indeed, the crown of God’s creation, that is, the human person, still
suffers and is abused, and is too often seen as merely a commodity.
Of course, love is at the core of the Christian faith. As it is widely
known, Christians firmly believe that love is to be expressed to the
Creator and to all creation. The message of the Gospel is love and,
therefore, at the heart of any Christian ministry, there is a commitment
to serve those who are suffering and in need. The early Church clearly
understood this as well. And since the time of Christ, the indelible
mark of Christianity has been written in the history books of the
various social movements that have graced this earth over the centuries.
The Church Fathers developed fundamental truths about the causes and
manner of resolving social problems, injustice, abuse of property,
wealth and power, but also about their employment for the good of
humanity. They did not place emphasis only on the individual or
existential aspects of sin, but also on its implications for society.
After all, social problems affect the core of human existence. Human
beings do live from bread, even if they do not live from bread alone (Mt
4.4).
As the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church –
convened on the island of Crete in June of 2016 – affirmed: “At no time
was the Church’s philanthropic work limited merely to circumstantial
good deeds toward the needy and suffering, but rather it sought to
eradicate the causes which create social problems. The Church’s ‘work of
service’ (ἔργον διακονίας) (Eph 4.12) is recognized by everyone” (§19,
Encyclical).
The love that Christians not only refer to, then,
but also strive for, has been characterized by many saintly men and
women through the years. For them, love was not self-centered or viewed
in a purely sentimental manner. Love for them was to be sacrificial and
unconditional. Love was at the center of their quest for holiness. Love,
though, was also fused together with solidarity, because, deep down,
they believed that we are all on a common journey, headed toward a
common future. Unfortunately, there will always be a need to save those
who are oppressed “out of the power of those who plundered them.” (Jd
2.16) In this spirit, our Forum on modern slavery is an extension of the
life and work of these holy people, who viewed the struggle for human
dignity, freedom, justice and peace as a shared and common struggle.
The common spirit found in the Scriptures or the writings of the Church
Fathers is clear. There are many who share this view of a common
journey for all of humanity. In the Book of Isaiah, for example, we read
the following words: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove
the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to
do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead
for the widow.” (Is. 1.16-17) Centuries later, we hear similar words
from St. Anthony the Great: “Never prefer gain for yourself over that
which is beneficial to your brother.” And others in the fourth century
echoed these same sentiments of St. Anthony. St. Basil the Great, for
example, wrote: “the world that forgets God, brothers and sisters, is
ruled by injustice toward neighbors and inhumanity toward the weak.”
Over the course of history, many have tried to bring real change to
society. This Forum is to rectify the direction society is heading in,
and to find real and concrete means to fight against this unacceptable
expression of abuse and evil in our present day and age. There is no
need for us to list facts and figures about the present situations, or
reference other religious figures who consider this to be one of the
most serious problems we face today. Each day, whether through our
televisions, newspapers and magazines, we hear about stories that shock
us all, and we can no longer remain idle. We have come together to put
our words into action. Silence and passive acceptance of the present
situation is no longer possible or acceptable. It never really was
anyway.
We often hear people using the term philanthropy
unfortunately only in terms of donations, contributions, and bequests.
This term, however, which is Greek in origin, also speaks of the love we
should have for all of humanity – love for our fellow person. Our love
is not to be only for those whom we know, but also for the nameless, the
unknown, those who are suffering, especially those trapped in the
complex web of slavery. We are called to fulfill an act of natural
justice, as we must liberate them from tyranny and exploitation. Our
predecessor and great preacher of justice, St. Photios the Great, said
the following:
Do not overlook the poor and let not his tattered
rags incite you to contempt, but let them rather move you to pity for
your fellow creatures. For he is also a man, a creature of God, clothed
in flesh like yourself, and perhaps in his spiritual virtue mirroring
the common Creator more than you do. Nature has not made him indigent in
this life, but it is the tyranny of his neighbor that has reduced
either him or his parents to indigence, while our lack of pity and
compassion has maintained or even aggravated his poverty.
While
the words of St. Photios refer to the poor, they also remind us that the
Creator did not give this way of life to His children. The tyranny,
cruelty and heartlessness of humanity have created this caste of
society, and have enslaved the most innocent, defenseless, and
vulnerable in our societies – namely, our women and children.
As
we mentioned earlier, words are not enough. Action is required. Thus, in
our address to the inaugural Forum on Slavery, entitled “Sins before
our Eyes,” held two years ago at this same venue, we highlighted the
following:
We unite our efforts to eradicate modern slavery in
all its forms, across the world and for all times. We affirm that which
we signed in the Declaration of Religious Leaders against Modern Slavery
(December 2, 2014), namely that slavery is “a crime against humanity.”
We are committed “to do all in our power, within our faith communities
and beyond, to work together for the freedom of all those who are
enslaved and trafficked so that their future may be restored.” On the
way to achieving this categorical imperative, our adversary is not
simply modern slavery, but also the spirit that nourishes it, the
deification of profit, consumerism, discrimination, racism, sexism, and
egocentrism. Against this spirit, we must work for the promotion of a
culture of solidarity, respect for others, and dialogue. Together with
the sensitization of consciences, we must participate in concrete
initiatives and actions. We need stronger mobilization on the level of
action.
In addition to our first Forum in Istanbul and our second
Forum in Buenos Aires, a local Forum took place at our Parish of Saint
Anthony in Pasadena, California, with our blessing and under our
guidance. Various religious communities, law enforcement officers,
educators, and representatives from various agencies, came together in
solidarity and unity to inform and educate the general public. The event
was a great success for their greater community, and we congratulate
Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco for this initiative. An event
like this should serve as an inspiration and model for all our parishes
and communities, involving people of all faiths who want to put together
similar programs. It is for this reason that the Ecumenical
Patriarchate has established a special Task Force on Modern Slavery,
which is already working together with our Roman Catholic and Anglican
brothers and sisters. But this call to action is not just for the
Christian communities. It is a summons to all.
We insist on our
firm conviction that Churches and religions can have a crucial
contribution to the resolution of all the contemporary social problems
and, of course, slavery. Religious faith inspires, strengthens, and
supports the struggle for the protection of freedom and justice, even if
this struggle seems to be confronted with intractable difficulties and
impasses. Christian Churches and other religions can cultivate the
spirit of peace, reconciliation and solidarity, not only through the
dialogue and cooperation among themselves, but also through the support
at the sociopolitical level and in the civic society of all the
initiatives and movement for the protection of human dignity and
fundamental rights.
With these thoughts, we warmly welcome you
once again to the Sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and wish you
successful deliberations and constructive results for this significant
gathering about the burning issue of modern slavery, which in fact
contradicts all the major humanistic achievements of modernity and the
core values of Christianity.
Thank you for your attention