Bringing the
Eastern Orthodox Faith
to Animal Care
Stewardship in Action for God’s Creation
Petition signatures presented to the UK Prime Minister with Save the Asian Elephant
Our Christian Responsibility Toward Creation
Too often, animal suffering receives little attention in Orthodox thought and practice.
At Pan-Orthodox Concern for Animals, we turn to the Orthodox Church’s living tradition to better understand our relationship with God’s creation.
We look to Scripture and the Church Fathers to recover a fuller understanding of our responsibility toward animals and what that responsibility asks of us today.
Through our work, we deepen understanding and seek a faithful response to the suffering of God’s creatures.
Read more about P.O.C.A. in Who We Are and Biographies
From Theology to Action: P.O.C.A.’s Impact
Focus: Equipping the faithful with the knowledge to care for God’s creation
☦ Creation Care Course: Developed the ‘Creation Care: Christian Responsibility Course’, an eight-lesson educational programme offered free of charge to individuals, parishes and seminaries
📚 Academic Publications: Published three key volumes on Creation Care and Environmental and Animal Ethics through Cambridge Scholars Publishing, contributing to the development of Orthodox animal theology
🎥 Film Consultancy: Served as the animal theology advisor for the documentary The Face of God, an Orthodox film on climate change.
🌐 Global Webinars: Hosted international webinars exploring Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s teachings on animals and contributed Orthodox perspectives on animal theology and climate change through global panels
Focus: Addressing the ethical and environmental impacts of industrial agriculture
🐖 Cage-Free Farming: Supported petitions and efforts to end the use of cages and crates for farmed animals
🐣 Poultry Industry Reform: Campaigned for an end to the killing of male chicks in the egg industry and greater protections for chickens raised for meat
🫛 Plant-Based Advocacy: Published research and delivered lectures on the environmental and ethical impacts of animal-based diets, encouraging more sustainable approaches to food consumption
🚜 Ethics of Industrial Agriculture: Conducted on-site research at farms and slaughterhouses to develop an ethical framework for the welfare of farmed animals in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen’s CEFAW (Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare) Project
Focus: Promoting ethical change in the laws and practices governing fashion, research, and sport
💂 Fashion Ethics: Called for an end to the use of animal skins at London Fashion Week and encouraged the King’s Guard to adopt faux fur for ceremonial headwear
💉 Animal Testing: Collaborated with the Animal Interfaith Alliance to encourage government and pharmaceutical industry support for replacing animal testing with modern scientific alternatives
🐴 Cruel Entertainment: Worked to end practices involving animal exploitation, including horse-drawn carriages in Mallorca, greyhound racing, and children’s attendance at hunts
⚖️ Legal Advocacy: Provided an Amicus Curiae brief to the Nonhuman Rights Project, supporting litigation concerning elephants held in captivity in the USA
Focus: Protecting the integrity of the natural world and caring for vulnerable species
🐘 Asian Elephant Welfare: Partnered with Save the Asian Elephant (STAE) to present a petition of over one million signatures to the UK Prime Minister, calling for an end to the abuse of captive elephants and the promotion of genuine sanctuaries
🐋 Whale Sentience: Supported international efforts to recognise whales as sentient beings and promote stronger protections for their lives, habitats, and migration
🦁 Importation of Hunting Trophies: Campaigned for the Importation of Hunting Trophies Bill to prohibit the movement of hunting trophies into the UK
🐠 Marine Biodiversity: Promoted the High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) to safeguard marine life in international waters
🦡 Protecting Local Wildlife: Advocated for an end to the UK badger cull in favour of science-based bovine tuberculosis control
🦭 Species Protection: Contributed to efforts to end the Canadian seal hunt and reduce the use of pesticides that threaten essential pollinators, including bees and other insects
“P.O.C.A.’s deep engagement with theological ethics and on-site field research has been instrumental in bridging the gap between ancient Christian tradition and the modern realities of farmed animal welfare.”
— The Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare (CEFAW) Project, University of Aberdeen
Learn About Orthodox Animal Theology
Books & Videos
As a respected group of Orthodox theologians, philosophers, and ethicists, we produce Orthodox books and articles for leading academic journals, whilst also producing and providing space for academic work within the wider Christian/Multi-Faith communities.
Videos
‘Face of God’: An Orthodox Film on Climate Change (external link)
For the Life of the World: Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church
Creation Care: Christian Responsibility Course
This Course establishes that concern and compassion for animals is not a modern phenomenon but one found both in the Bible and in the earliest teachings of the Christian Church. It provides an anamnesis of a lesser-known Orthodox tradition, where all animals are loved and protected by God and that their suffering is against God’s will.
Prayers for Animals/Creation
We welcome prayers, old or new, from different Orthodox countries. Met. Kallistos of Diokleia teaches that the saints’ use of prayers for animals “shows compassion for animals and their suffering” which supports the argument that compassion and concern for animal suffering is not new.
Saints & Animals
From the beginning of the Christian Church there were many saints in different countries, who loved animals. They lived with them, rescued them, nursed them and saved them from hunters. In turn, many saints were helped by animals.
We have listed some of these saints in order of their feast days. We hope that the information on them is useful.
Co-Workers & Collaborators
Animal Rights Tour Podcast – Exploring the past, present, and potential future of animal rights law, Animal Rights Tour is a journey through the laws, challenges, and breakthroughs in animal rights law (external link).