Patriarch Bartholomew becomes honorary professor of ecology in Greece

Patriarch Bartholomew with the rector of the Ionian University, Professor Andreas Floros, and the official archon of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Associate Professor and department chair Christos Karidis. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On March 3, 2026, it became known that Patriarch Bartholomew had been granted the title of Honorary Professor of the Department of Environment at the Ionian University in Greece. The decision of the university’s Senate was officially communicated to the primate of the Church of Constantinople, Orthodoxia News Agency reports.

The honorary title was announced to the Patriarch by the rector of the Ionian University, Professor Andreas Floros, and by the archon of the Patriarchate of Alexandria – Associate Professor and department chair Christos Karidis. The university emphasized his contribution to advancing the ecological agenda and to fostering dialogue between science and religion.

The environmental theme has also been voiced in connection with the Ukrainian church issue. On September 23, 2025, speaking at the “Concordia” summit in New York, Patriarch Bartholomew linked the granting of a Tomos of autocephaly to the OCU with a broader concept of responsibility for creation. “Our commitment to the environment is inextricably linked to our commitment to the freedom and self-determination of the Ukrainian people, and that is why we granted independence, autocephalous status, and self-governance to their Orthodox Church in 2019,” he said.

In the same address, the Patriarch stressed: “To honor the earth without honoring the people who live on that earth, and conversely – to honor one’s neighbors without honoring the earth on which they must flourish – is madness that afflicts our world.” He also noted that, “by ignoring carbon emissions, we become accomplices in suffering.”

On September 24, 2025, Bartholomew was awarded the Templeton Prize in the amount of $1.4 million for efforts to “build a bridge between scientific and spiritual understanding of humanity’s relationship with the natural world.” At the ceremony, he said that faith cannot be detached from reality or from responsibility for the world around us.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Patriarch of Constantinople received $1.4 million for environmental activity and for building a bridge between science and religion.

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