The Ecumenical Patriarch Mr.. Bartholomew, on the occasion of the great catastrophes caused by the extreme weather phenomena mainly in Thessaly, Central Greece and the islands of the southern Ionian, made the following statement:……..
“Εκφράζουμε την συμπάθεια και την συμπαράσταση της Μητρός Εκκλησίας προς τους δοκιμαζόμενους κατοίκους όλων των περιοχών της Ελλάδος που επλήγησαν από τα πρωτοφανούς εντάσεως καιρικά φαινόμενα των προηγούμενων ημερών, because of which three of our fellow human beings lost their lives and one is missing. We watch with shock the dramatic images of the biblical catastrophe in areas of Karditsa and Lamia, in Zakynthos, in Kefalonia, in Lefkada and Ithaca, but also in other areas of Greece, οι οποίες μετρούν τις “πληγές” που προκάλεσε η φονική κακοκαιρία. Our prayers, during these difficult times, intensify and unite with those of the brothers of the Most Holy Metropolitans of these areas and all those who sympathize. May God rest the souls of our fellow human beings who lost their lives and strengthen their relatives and all those affected. We wish our Lord to strengthen the competent State and local authorities to deal with the situation, caused by the Mediterranean cyclone Janos, as well as to support and comfort all those who suffer.
But we would like to point out once again that such extreme weather phenomena, as well as those that recently hit Evia, they come to remind us, in the most revealing and dramatic way, the need to respect and protect the natural environment. Form, as everything testifies, the visible effect of climate change, consequence of disrespectful human intervention in nature. We all need to understand what is happening and change our attitude towards nature, whose crown is man. The,what we do somewhere in the world, in our common house, has an impact everywhere, to all our fellow human beings. Respecting nature, προστατεύουμε την ζωή μας και εξασφαλίζουμε ένα καλύτερο μέλλον για τις επόμενες γενεές”.