ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: HALKI SUMMIT

 

In light of the ecological crisis, the Halki Summits provide a platform for conversation and promote an atmosphere of dialogue to discern and foster changes in attitudes and lifestyles.”

- Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

 

A WORD OF WELCOME

We welcome you to the official website of our ecological summits that originally convened on the quaint island of Halki (Heybeliada), of historic importance for the Ecumenical Patriarchate and just a short ferry ride from Istanbul in Turkey.

These summits are inspired by the series of nine international, interfaith and interdisciplinary environmental symposia held from 1995-2018 in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, on the Danube and the Amazon Rivers, in the Adriatic and the Baltic Seas, in the Arctic and along the Mississippi, and finally in Athens and on the Saronic islands.

Over the last decades, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has advocated and advanced worldwide conversation and cooperation among representatives of various disciplines and faiths, contributing to global awareness of the consequences of climate change but also discerning and effecting changes in values and social attitudes related to the abuse of God’s creation.

We are convinced that reversing climate change and the depletion of the earth’s resources requires first and foremost a radical change shaped by the ethical and spiritual principles of environmental sustainability in people’s lives and practices.

The Halki Summits are a vital step in this critical dialogue inasmuch as they assemble focused groups from diverse religious and social, as well as civil and corporate sectors of our communities in order to discuss ways of effecting positive and constructive change in the world. We pray that you will join us in this journey.

Prayerfully yours,

+ BARTHOLOMEW
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch