Tuesday, June 11, 2002
By Elena Becatoros, Associated Press
VENICE, Italy - Joined by a video link, Pope John Paul II and the spiritual
leader of Orthodox Christians signed a declaration Monday stating that
protecting the environment is a "moral and spiritual" duty. Both the pope
and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who was in Venice, have described
the declaration as another step in helping bridge the nearly 1,000-year-old
rift between the two ancient branches of Christianity.
The signing ended a five-day voyage by Bartholomew around the Adriatic Sea,
from poverty-stricken Albania to prosperous Italy. The frail 82-year-old
pope remained at the Vatican and signed the document during a video link-up
with Bartholomew at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.
"We are ... concerned about the negative consequences for humanity and for
all creation resulting from the degradation of some basic natural resources
such as water, air, and land brought about by an economic and technological
progress which does not recognize and take into account its limits," the
document said. "Christians and all other believers have a specific role to
play in proclaiming moral values and in educating people in ecological
awareness, which is none other than responsibility toward self, toward
others, toward creation."
The text, which does not out outline any binding action, was the first the
two religious leaders have signed concerning the environment. However,
common declarations between the two are not unusual. The declaration invites
"all men and women of good will" to consider ethical goals in the protection
of the environment.
About 250 religious figures, scientists, and environmentalists joined the
patriarch on the Adriatic trip, his fourth crusade to point out ecological
problems. Other trips have taken him to the Aegean and Black seas and down
the Danube River.
The Adriatic faces pollution from raw sewage, herbicides, pesticides, and
industrial waste which flow into the 420-mile Mediterranean offshoot,
surrounded by Italy and the Balkans. Coastal habitats such as wetlands are
gradually being destroyed. "This is a serious and increasing problem with
the further development of tourism," said a statement from marine biologists
who accompanied Bartholomew.
The conference said the main source of pollution in the Adriatic was the
most prosperous nation in the region: Italy. Apart from pollution flowing
from the Po River, a large petrochemical industry near Venice has
contaminated seafood, and there is no adequate monitoring program for the
developing oil industry along the Italian coast, the scientists said.
Copyright 2002, Associated Press
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright
law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All
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