Earlier today, an Animal Blessing Service took place at the St. Martin of Tours Church in Detling, Kent. It is a very old church and is dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. The building was constructed in the 12th century with 13th and 15th-century additions and restoration carried out in the late 19th century. It is a Grade I listed building.

Brief note on the tradition of Orthodox Animal Blessings

Before we established the Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals Charity, we went and sought permission from Archbishop Gregorios of blessed memory. He immediately gave his permission and blessing. He also told stories of how, when he was a boy in Cyprus, his mother would come back with prosphoron and give some of it to their animals. After he was ordained, he would go into the garden and bless their animals. One might think this unusual until you learn that blessing animals has been an Orthodox Tradition for centuries. Indeed, there are famous prayers for animals from Saints Mamas and Modestos and there are, according to Met. Kallistos of Diokleia, ‘In the Orthodox book of blessings and intercession [Evchologion/Trebnik or Book of Needs] prayers for many species of animals, including bees and silkworms.’ The service today follows in this ancient Christian tradition.

Fr Simon Nellist is the Orthodox priest at The Church of the Annunciation in Boxley, Kent where the Rev. Robert Tugwell is the Anglican priest.

They came together on World Animal Pet Day, to perform a short but beautiful service to a small group of 9 people with 6 companion animals, all of which on this occasion were rescue dogs. (Picures on our FB site (6) Pan-Orthodox Concern for Animals | Facebook )

The service opened with Fr Simon reading the following prayer for companion animals and their owners, which included a section of the prayer of St Mamas:

Blessing for Companion Animals and their owners

Blessed is our God, always now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and God saw that everything was made and behold it was very good. Almighty God we come together to thank you for the beauty and the glory of your creation, to praise you and your holiness and grace, and to acknowledge our responsibility for our companion animals and to thank you for their friendship and the love that they show us. Let us pray with the whole church and in the words of the saints, poets, and theologians, for all those who acknowledge the beauty of your creation and in particular, for those animals in our care. Help us care for them with love and compassion, so that they may lead long and happy lives.

From the Prayer of St Mamas

Yes, O Lord our God, Who made the heaven and the earth, and Whose Word grants all things towards salvation to our people, do not neglect this my prayer, from Your humble and lowest servant; but hearken to me, O Lord Who loves mankind, and this my prayer when read, whether to wild, domesticated or companion animals. Do not let sickness or other temptation come close to these animals, that being always guarded by You, we might offer up glory and worship to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen

The Rev. Rob then asked the congregation to stand and sing the Hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful.’ He went on to give a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the whole of creation, which he reminded us in a short sermon, is suffering because of our sinful ways. We prayed for the lives, companionship, love, and trust that we give and receive from our companion friends. He likened this special relationship to the special relationship we have with God – for it reminds us of the trust, faith and love we have in and for Him, who love and cares for all His creation.

A member of the congregation then sang a contemporary song on the beauty of creation.

The service closed with a blessing for the animals and their owners. There was no barking or mess and the animals were clearly happy to participate.

At the end of the service, doggie treats were available for the animals and the smiles of the owners spoke to the joy in their hearts at receiving this blessing.

At the end, one of the parishioners sat with her dog, speaking quietly with the priest at one end of the Church and reminded me of how in the ‘When Faith meets Fur’ story on our website, the opportunity arose for fellowship and teaching to one of his congregation, see here  WHEN FAITH MEETS FUR – Pan-Orthodox Concern for Animals (panorthodoxconcernforanimals.org)

The founder of the first church animal shelter in Russia, which is at the Ilyinsky Church in the village of Lemeshevo near Moscow, Archpriest Peter Dynnikov in an interview with Interfax-Religion correspondent Elena Verevkina spoke about different approaches in different societies to the issue of pets.

– Father Peter, the media spread information that on the eve of the World Cup, funds were allocated from the state budget for the destruction of homeless animals. How do you feel about such initiatives?

You’re asking me a complicated and extraordinary question because I’m a priest, not an expert on such matters. I have loved football since childhood, it is a smart, spectacular game that attracts people all over the world. Especially the World Cups, I haven’t missed any since I began to understand and appreciate football.

The sad thing is that such actions are being prepared. Of course, this is due not only to the World Cup, this situation is permanent, despite the adoption in 1999 of a ban on shooting dogs in Russia. Nevertheless, such a vicious practice exists everywhere and everywhere in our country, and both the authorities and those who oppose such decisions are aware of this. The new law on the protection of animals, according to animal rights activists, turned out to be half-hearted in the sense that it prohibits cruel treatment, but at the same time it is necessary to prove that the treatment was cruel, to open a criminal case. In fact, the ban should be absolute. You can not put the animal on a chain, mock it. Cruel treatment should be a priori punishable. Any murder, no matter how good a deed it is covered up, remains so. Murder is an atrocity. Good deeds should not be done through evil and murder. There is a Commandment , thou shalt not kill. It is very extensive and is not projected only on a person.

On the eve of the Great Chinese Leap From 1958 to 1960, Mao Zedong urged everyone to fight sparrows. The Chinese faced the problem of hunger, and they were told that the cause of their troubles was sparrows. In Soviet times, a documentary was shown before a feature film, and now my child’s heart remembered the terrible footage when thousands of trucks carry the carcasses of these unfortunate sparrows. In 1955, mao Zedong’s call was answered both day and night by people with rattles, with gongs and not allowing sparrows to sit down and rest for a single minute, then the sparrows fell dead. In a short time in Beijing, sparrows were finished once and for all. It would seem that this is a good deed, because people fought for the harvest, but as a result, the grain was poisoned by pests, which sparrows could no longer destroy, and this did not solve the problem of hunger. I remembered this because you can’t designate pets as “extreme” in human problems. All problems are created by a person, the animal itself cannot create problems, especially since we are talking about animals that are called domestic. Both the dog and the cat are pets that have been tamed by man, and tamed means that he must answer. We are not talking about tigers, hippos or wolves, we are talking about those animals that live next to us. As a result of the wrong attitude to the animal world, animals were “to blame” for human problems. Unhappiness only intensifies when this or that campaign takes place, as the Beijing campaign took place then. If a campaign is launched related to some event in which animals should suffer, then this is immoral and unacceptable, from my point of view.

The championship is a temporary phenomenon. Animals can be isolated, caught and placed in shelters for the duration of the championship, and then released into the area where the dog was caught. You can attract volunteers to care for animals for this time. It’s school holiday time! Children can help and at the same time learn kindness, see someone else’s pain and see how even a simple walk with a shelter dog changes the whole world of this dog. Our authorities attract volunteers for the championship itself, and it is also possible to attract volunteers to shelters. It is possible to organize food collection pointsFor these animals, so that shelters are not burdensome to feed them. The money planned for capture and shooting should be redirected to the temporary maintenance of animals during the championship. Yes, it is possible that shelters will be temporarily overcrowded. But that’s temporary. Maybe at this time someone can take the dog to the country? But it also needs to be communicated to people.
I know that abroad nursing homes are combined with animal shelters. I understand that this is impossible here, but it’s a pity.

— How does the Church relate to animal protection issues, in particular to the topic of protecting animals, which throughout history have served as companions of man?

“Since last year, in the Russian Orthodox Church, of which I am a priest, in early September we read a special prayer for God’s creation, for all the creations that god created, including animals.

If we pray for creation, for God’s creatures, the Church suggests treating them as the Bible treats them. The biblical view is that all that the Lord created was created by Him in joy to Himself, the Creator, because He concluded every act of creation with the words: Everything that I have created is good. So the Lord rejoiced in what He had done. On the sixth day, the day of the creation of the world and man, the Lord said that he would produce a living soul, cattle and reptiles, beasts according to their kind. It’s about the living soul. If someone says that animals do not have a living soul, this is incorrect from the point of view of the interpretation of the Bible. This is the same living soul as that of man, with the only difference that man as the highest creation of God on earth stands at another stage of development, he is potentially God-like in the image and likeness of Him. The Bible says that every breath praises the Lord, which means that any form of life in its own way praises the Creator. How can we relate to what the Lord has done with joy? Then the Lord commanded man, as the greatest creature created by God, to give names to all animals and plants. The Lord commanded people to rule over the world He had created, to command and rule over that world. To rule is to manage wisely, to love the creation that God has created for us. This does not mean that we should rape this world and distort it, disfigure it. Ugliness is the absence of the image of God in anything, and when a person deprives a creature of what God has given to this creation, he brings it into a state of ugliness, which, unfortunately, happens to both nature and the animal world.

If we talk about animal protection, then, from my point of view, and I express only my point of view and I emphasize this, Noah, who made the ark at the behest of God to save the human race and the animal world, we can say in modern terms, was a zoo rescuer. In this ark, not only mankind was saved, but by the instructions of God and the animal world. It is amazing that the Lord took care of the animals so that they could be saved! The righteous Noah can be considered the patron saint of animal rights activists. Moreover, with the saved man and animals, the Lord made a covenant as with intelligent beings, it was a covenant not only with man, but also with the animal world, the Bible says this.

If animals have souls, they go to heaven, do you think? Can we hope to meet our pets in another world?

– There is no definitive answer to this. The Lord created a living soul. When it comes to an animal, it is quite the same living soul, only it is not created in the image of God, it is the prerogative of man. Is it eternal? I don’t know, because this is an issue that has been debated for many centuries by the Holy Fathers, there are different opinions on this matter. Whether we will be able to meet animals in the future, there is no direct answer in the Bible, I also do not know, but the prophet Isaiah, who talks about the vision of the future of paradise, wrote that the wolf will graze with the lamb, and the leopard will lie with the goat, and the little child will walk them. The point is that even in the state of the future, the Lord wants to see animals together with man.

— You have a lot of experience with dogs and cats. Do you think there are any qualities in these beasts that can be learned by a person?

Man should learn from them boundless devotion, because only an animal that idolizes man can love man so faithfully. To them, we are the greatest creature they see in front of them. A person can hardly die of melancholy, having lost his neighbor, even if it was the closest person: time passes, which grinds everything, and a person regains his normal qualities, moves away from grief. And the animal sometimes does not, the animal can die of longing for the owner, because for him the master is the Universe, and the loss of the owner is the loss of the meaning of existence. We are talking about tamed pets that love a person and are attached to him. Treating them badly is immoral and undignified. The attitude to the animal world was best expressed by Russian literature. Remember Leo Tolstoy’s famous expression? A society that treats animals badly will always be criminal and destitute. He said it as a humanist and writer. “And the beast, like our smaller brothers, never hit the head,” said the great Russian poet Yesenin. His “Song of the Dog” is so heartfelt! In this poem, the poet revealed the soul of the animal – that it knows how to suffer from the loss of its cubs, to suffer infinitely. An animal that has lost its cubs is in the same grief as a woman who has lost her children. The poet shows this with great force. “Kusaka” by Leonid Andreev… These are the works that should be boardroom in schools, all this should be passed by children without imposition, with the right explanations, then they will correctly relate to the animal world, first of all to those who surround us, to pets.

How did you come up with the idea to create a shelter at the temple? How did it all start?

“It started with the fact that we saw unfortunate animals. The temple was built, it was without a fence, stray dogs and cats were nailed to us, which are often nailed to construction sites. We had such mongrels, and abandoned cats came. Hostesses. You can see when the cat is wild, and when the host. The impetus was the conversion of one parishioner who had departed to another world, the Kingdom of Heaven, before departing for another world, she tearfully asked me to take care of her “children”, as she called them. She had no children, she lost them a long time ago, was already elderly and lived only with her cats, she had three cats. She wondered what would happen to them when she left. And we had nowhere to take, we had to take ourselves to the parish. There were no conditions. There was a small house for the workers, where they lived. There were such special cases when people who took animals and had to take care of them, their tongue does not turn to call the owners, threw us unhappy pets. Once a shepherd dog appeared at the parish, which suffered from oncology, an absolutely unhappy animal, its owners deceived us – they said that they could not keep it, they have allergies. When we took the animal, it was very restless from the loss of owners, the dog was attached to them and was very homesick, having lost them. When we served the service, she looked out the window of the temple with human eyes, we did not have a fence then. When I was doing every day, I saw through the window how she ran to the temple and looked so hard that it was simply impossible to bear, this look cannot be conveyed, so pathetic and suffering. She was not taken care of by these careless people (after such an act I do not want to call them as such), but by mongrels who laid down on her and warmed her. Then the conditions at the parish for animals were absolutely not. The cabin was cold, unheated, and these dogs were lying on top of her, one on top, the other on the bottom: she was getting cancer and freezing. They warmed her to their last breath with their bodies. The animals had more mercy and compassion than those who had to take care of the one he had tamed. This was one of the impulses to create a shelter, although the shelter is loudly said, we do not have any fixed status. It is possible to keep a certain number of cats and a certain number of dogs on our territory due to the fact that it is impossible to build for people there, a high-voltage power line passes through the territory. Much further on, aviaries and warm kennels are made for dogs. Now we have very good conditions for dogs. They live for three, a maximum of four, compatibility is important so that they do not have conflicts. Our dogs have free range, as befits an animal. They run quietly at any time – both in winter and in summer. By winter, the booths are insulated with hay. If someone needs special conditions, for example, small dogs or disabled people, then we transfer them to the room.

Who helps you take care of animals?

– Parishioners. We don’t have any workers. After the emergence of our hospice, it is still a hospice, here the animals live, I met people who helped me to attach some of the cats. They are called animal rights activists, volunteers, I first encountered them then, in a good way they would put a monument on the territory of Russia instead of ridiculous monuments, which can sometimes be found in cities and villages. It would be a monument to mercy and motherhood. There is such a city of Griazi in the Lipetsk region, Valentina Silich lives there, I do not know her personally, but she alone saves so many animals, so many dogs! This suggests that she has a huge human heart filled with boundless love and kindness. This is the right attitude to the animal world, as it should be. Such a humane attitude should finally spread throughout Russia.
As a rule, here in Russia, women turn out to be morally stronger and more resilient than men. They have been fighting for animal rights for 18 years, and they are being slandered in every possible way – for the fact that they do not consider a close creature as a piece of meat for dinner or a potential fur coat, but treat the living soul differently. So it only magnifies them. Europe has long followed this path.

– And why are there no stray animals in Europe? How did they achieve this?

– I read that in Norway there was a period when a moratorium on the sale and breeding of purebred dogs was introduced for ten years. Breeding was strictly regulated and purebred dogs were left only for the police, for search services and guide dogs for the blind. During this decade, all the dogs from shelters were dismantled. Stray dogs were gone.

– How can you influence the consciousness of people so that instead of getting pedigree dogs and cats, they begin to take animals from shelters and from the streets? Should they get dogs as a fashion accessory?

– And how can you influence the consciousness of a person if he treats an animal as a thing? And our laws treat them as a thing, and this enters the consciousness of people. The animal is considered as a fashionable attribute. It is necessary to suggest that this soul is alive and requires the same attitude as to any living soul – that a person should be treated correctly, that an animal should be treated. How to influence in general, I do not know, I do not have a complete answer. It is necessary to change the consciousness of society in relation to the animal world. Books should be read in childhood normal. Remember Leonid Andreev’s about how the dog, which was also treated as a thing, came, indulged, and then indifferently left, abandoning it, and the dog was so accustomed to warmth and affection that it could no longer live without it, because the living soul? “I wanted to be warm, to a loving woman’s heart, the dog howled.” That’s how worried this dog was! And then people from childhood will understand that it is necessary to treat animals as a living being, and not as a fashionable thing. Whoever tames must be held accountable. In prosperous countries, there is a moral and criminal responsibility of man to animals. It is very difficult to buy a dog in Germany, you need to collect a lot of documents, certificates that a person is of sound mind, and so on. They follow the education of the dog, it must be adapted, socialized. Everyone follows these rules. We often encounter the fact that dog owners are inadequate people, and these inadequate people acquire quite serious breeds that injure other animals and people. Where do mongrels come from? Mainly due to the fact that purebred dogs enter the mating without any control. For example, in Poland, strict control and accounting are maintained. This is the only country in Europe where there is a real record of dogs, how many of them and what breeds. They have these statistics, and we have a huge number of animals that run on their own. Shooting is inhumane and unnatural. Then there should be a sterilization program. In India, this is possible, there is a different attitude towards both cows and dogs, in Istanbul they walk calmly: President Erdogan introduced a harsh law – now a person who cruelly treats an animal can get ten years in real prison.

We have sterilized dogs. Despite the fact that the Lord said “be fruitful and multiply”, this is good in natural conditions, and in an urbanized world, where their offspring are doomed to hunger, disease, suffering, it is better to let them live, but with such restrictions. This is my conscious, difficult decision. Here, of the two evils, we must choose the lesser. Initially, I opposed sterilization, but when the problem became tough, there were epidemics, pestilence, I decided to do it and I believe that the decision was the right one. Cats have become more tame, do not go far. Dogs also began to stay closer, and aggressiveness as such in them disappears, because aggressiveness in a dog manifests itself during estrus, when there is a struggle for possession, a natural instinct acts, they begin to “beast”. The human community also knows the moments when, huddled in criminal packs, it beasts. Take, for example, the recent sensational case when it was said that dogs beat a person to death – a dark matter, it is not clear how it really was and how it ended. If this was indeed the case, then such tragedies should not be allowed. But on the eve there was another egregious case, which, however, did not cause much resonance: a pack of angry teenagers beat a disabled person, a izur.leaving his face unrecognizable, and it was filmed. It’s a complete loss of human form, a raging pack. Why didn’t this case cause such a resonance, but only the case of dogs? The dog does not understand, it has an instinct, but a person understands, and only a person with creativity and an abstract vision can do this perversely. The animal does not possess abstract vision, it can attack to protect itself or win back territory. But as a person sometimes does when he enjoys torment and torture, this is a perversion of the mind, and only he is capable of this. Alas, it is. Mikhail Vinogradov, a well-known psychiatrist and criminologist, said that 95% of maniacs and murderers in childhood were engaged in livehood and experienced pleasure from the fact that they tortured animals, and then tortured and tormented people.

At one time, I was reminded of the words of Dmitry Zhmurov, who teaches at the Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, he said: to kill an animal only to deprive it of life is like killing a person in yourself. I was shocked by these words, he subtly noticed it, as a psychologist. A person who kills an animal deprives himself of his mind, deprives himself of the title of man, because he has deprived himself of the image of God laid down by the Creator for other things, and not in order to torment those whom the Lord has entrusted to us to take care of.

– On December 13, the State Duma adopted amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of the Russian Federation, which toughen the punishment for cruelty to animals. Do you think these measures are sufficient to prevent deliberate cruelty?

– Yes, there is the possibility of punishment, and there are already the first examples when several people were actually punished for livestock. But that’s not enough. The very inhumane attitude to the animal world to outlaw is an atrocity. As long as we do not have responsibility for this, there is only responsibility for actions with the intention of causing pain or suffering to the animal, for actions that caused its death or injury.

A dog should not be kept on a chain. Drug addicts, drunkards, deranged people, devoid of reason, should not keep animals. This should not happen, and in this sense the law is imperfect, it is not brought to an end, because there should be punishment for an abnormal attitude to the animal world, and not only for a proven crime. If we observe such an attitude, then a person has the right to suppress this phenomenon. Then society becomes humane and humane.
As a citizen of Russia, I object to the fact that animals are killed with my taxpayer’s money, let them build shelters with my taxes. But shelters should be guarded by the media, animal rights activists, because those that exist now, they cannot be called such, sometimes they resemble concentration camps. There, animals are often tortured, not fed, not watered, kept in cages, in unnatural conditions. Money is allocated for this, which is obviously not so spent if the “maintenance” of the shelter becomes an immoral business. If there are shelters, they should be accessible to the media, so that we know about the state of these shelters, they should be created by loving people. I think there would be animal rights activists in the country who would take on such a function. In the Netherlands, there is a whole police unit that deals with the rescue of animals, and, judging by the fact that people who are not indifferent write on the Internet, many of our animal rights activists would gladly join such detachments. People want to help, they want to realize themselves in the field of animal protection.

— How do animals most often get to you? Are they the ones who are sent to live?

– Different fates, different options. We do not accept animals on a call, when they call, they ask: take it. I would gladly take everyone, but as an abbot I am an appointed person, a mortal at that, and I cannot take on such obligations. I’m going to recruit animals and what’s going to happen to them? Who will come to my place? May God grant that this was a person who would preserve this shelter with the blessing of the ruling bishop. I have an assistant, a graduate of the Kolomna Seminary – if he came to serve me, he could continue this work, he loves animals very much. I can’t take any chances, so we only take a select few. That is, I must know for sure that this animal was once among people, the owner, the owner either died or is sick, he no longer has the opportunity to deal with the animal, and it turned out to be on the street. These animals suffer the most. Those who wandered the streets, they are accustomed to this condition, they do not care, they can, unfortunately, be killed there, or they will be overtaken by hunger or disease. And we took those who suffered for a person. There were, of course, emergency cases when we found crushed dogs on the road, with injuries, without eyes, without paws.

– How many wards do you have now?

– 53 dogs and the same number of cats. It’s a big farm, but we’re coping with it. Some of the Moscow animal rights activists began to help us, they bring food, we would not have coped with it ourselves. Volunteers come from Moscow, bring food, warm clothes for animals, help. Moscow children have repeatedly collected parcels for us, which is a good start in two schools in the capital. They held exhibitions and three times brought us all possible help. Their loving children’s hearts responded. We were very pleased with this, because children are engaged in this.

– Can I come to you with children to communicate with your animals?

– Yes. We have pets, but when people come and bring infections, it’s bad. Some people have pets at home, some bring infections on clothes and shoes. This is a minus, there are serious diseases, when this infection remains for three years in the soil, there is pestilence. We didn’t know that before. Dogs are smaller and cats are very sensitive. Dogs are more persistent, it is easier to communicate with them. I have already received this knowledge from animal protection.

Do you have no veterinary or medical education?

– No, no, what are you! Animal rights activists tell us what can and cannot be done. I want to say that communication with animals is an experience that fills life and makes it full. It is impossible to live without the animal world, life becomes scarce, undue, incomplete.

Did you have pet animals as a child?

– There was a decommissioned service shepherd dog Julbars. Her father took her out of pity, she was a very intelligent dog. There were animals and pedigree, and mongrel. And now there’s a dog I’ve found, I’ve had a French Bulldog living for twelve years. People took it and threw it away. It’s an “after-breath”, she lacked something for the breed. An extremely loyal dog. And the cats I have — mostly the ones that have been affected by humans and that have been thrown away. They become very devoted if a person loves them for the second time. Trusting the person again, they will die for you. I’ve always had animals, and I’ve been read the right books as a kid. I re-read them myself, we had a large library. In those days, there were beautiful films on this topic. “White Bim is a black ear”… How can you not touch this movie! It shows both high spirit and meanness of man. This gradation of people continues.

“Now they are afraid of injuring children, they are afraid of upsetting them…

It is very good if a child is upset, it means that he has the ability to empathize, there is suffering, mercy and pity. Otherwise, no one will be upset about him if he feels bad. We need to comment on these films correctly. What struck me most about the film was the scene that was cut out in the modern version – when the dogs were shown on the livestock, real dogs were filmed there, it was obvious and creepy. They felt that death would soon come for them, they were sentenced. I will never forget this scene of the film, although it has already been deleted.
Cruelty to animals must disappear. Contact zoos should be banned. If society wants to develop, it must treat animals humanely. It is necessary to revise the concept of society’s attitude towards our smaller brothers.

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This is an English translation of a Russian article from cleanfuture.ru and permission sought for republication

Book Review

Climate Crisis and Creation Care: Historical perspectives, ecological integrity, and justice,

And

Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated theology, governance, and justice.

Edited by Dr Christina Nellist. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021

For many, climate change might seem an area which has been over-explored already, plenty of varied tomes have been written, what we need now is surely some action. So, why do we need a two-volume collection of forty-one varied and diverse chapters, covering a wide range of perspectives, with respect to climate change and human relations with our wider creation? Should you be asked, just refer the questioner to this intriguing and genuinely path-breaking collection of essays, edited by Dr Christina Nellist.

Climate Crisis and Creation Care: Historical Perspectives, Ecological Integrity and Justice – Cambridge Scholars Publishing

We should, perhaps admit to some bias when it comes to Dr Nellist and her work, she is, after all, a friend of us here at CCA, and has contributed to our work, not least in this journal. Moreover, we were pleased to contribute to this collection, with a chapter based on our ongoing work on fish, as were other organisations and individuals we work with, including Animal Interfaith Alliance. Indeed, you can find readings of excerpts from these two chapters on CCA’s podcast, and more will be appearing soon.

Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated Theology, Governance and Justice – Cambridge Scholars Publishing

These books manage to contribute a strong focus on faith-based approaches to creation, and particularly human engagement with creation, alongside a staggeringly wide-range of expertise and perspectives, which is varied to the point of eclecticism. On the one hand this provides a broad, and fascinating overview of current work in the area, and on the other, maintains a strength of purpose and drive. Not the least benefit of these collections is that they confirm that those of us concerned with these issues are not alone, and that we are contributing to debate on a wide front of discussion.

Delving into these texts you will discover an enormous variety. Although edited and presented from Dr Nellist’s position as an Eastern Orthodox theological expert, the editing has been open and inclusive. Different Christian approaches are explored and elucidated alongside those of other great religious philosophies. In fact, the opening, AIA, chapter of the ‘Integrated Theology’ volume provides a run-down of the views of major religions as a preparation for what is to come, but it is not only the theological views which are varied. In these volumes you will find chapters on theory and strategy, others dealing with specific issues and areas of interest, and yet more dealing with practical action in specific countries and area. These latter including countries like Uganda, Brazil, Australia, and Ukraine. There are chapters which contain substantial references to theological texts, chapters packed with scientific figures and plates, chapters stuffed with references to academic and other works, and more discursive chapters narrating opinions. It is difficult to imagine an approach to these issues which is not catered for, in some form, in these books.

Of course, one of the implications of such an open editing of this subject is that not everything here will resonate with, or please, everyone. The readings are deliberately challenging. The purpose here is to begin and foster debate, to allow us to come together and explore the possibilities with which we are faced, without judgement and in rich variety. These books may confirm and reinforce much that you believe, but equally they will challenge and question your beliefs as well.

To bring all of this together, and to provide such an important and rich opening to exploration of human relations with wider creation, and the importance and significance of faith-based perspectives in doing so, is immensely to Dr Nellist’s credit. However, the danger in doing so is that this could end up as a ‘scatter gun’ approach, peppering the area with diverse thoughts but lacking a central clarity. Dr Nellist is obviously aware of such dangers and provides some mechanisms to ensure that the central purpose and drive of the works is not lost. Notably the two volumes contain three commonalities. Each contains a brief Foreword, written by the Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and co-founder of St Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney. Both also contain an Introduction by the Editor, but most importantly, and significantly, both volumes contain a common Appendix which invites and enables future study and contemplation.

Typical of the nature of the books in their entirety, Dr Nellist makes no bones in the Appendix that they arise from her own Eastern Orthodox perspective, but immediately she invites and challenges us to engage with debate by stating: ‘I give permission for priests to adapt the material as they see fit; all I ask is the professional courtesy of authorship recognition’. The Appendix then provides a number of themes, materials, and questions for study and exploration which can be used in a variety of context, by groups and individuals, to encourage further reflection and study.

In addition, Dr Nellist states the intention to create video support for these themes, the first of which is currently available on the Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals website. In short, Dr Nellist has provided an important contribution to, and encouragement of, debates around faith, humanity, animals, and wider creation. She has done so in a spirit of inclusion and engagement which invites discussion rather than seeking to instruct. Together the two books provide a dazzlingly diverse discussion of this growingly important area, whilst also providing a structure for reflection, contemplation, and growth. As such these works represent a considerable achievement, an invitation to discovery and debate which I, for one, am looking forward to engaging with for some time to come.

Gerald Taylor

The Ark – Spring 2022

3rd February 2023

We, the Animal Interfaith Alliance, a group of faith-based animal advocacy organisations, write to you in your capacity as CEO to ask you to engage in a genuine dialogue concerning some of the corporate practices of your company.

We appeal first and foremost to your corporate social responsibility, generally defined as the self-regulation of a business model that helps a company to be socially and morally accountable to itself, its stakeholders and the public.  

The specific issue we wish to raise is the use of animals in the development and testing of new pharmaceutical products intended for human use. We fully realise that the use of animals, where there is no other available replacement, is currently a legal requirement, based on national and international regulations. These regulatory requirements can be traced back to the Doctors’ Trial at Nuremberg at the end of the Second World War, 1946 (1).

Science has moved forward since then by 75 years, but the laws have not yet caught up with the science. The result of this legal inertia is a continued reliance on outdated and unreliable animal testing, which can be summed up in the following paragraph:

“In 2004, the FDA estimated that 92 percent of drugs that pass preclinical tests, including “pivotal” animal tests, fail to proceed to the market. More recent analysis suggests that, despite efforts to improve the predictability of animal testing, the failure rate has actually increased and is now closer to 96 percent. The main causes of failure are lack of effectiveness and safety problems that were not predicted by animal tests” (2).

Not only is the continued use of animals responsible for an enormous amount of avoidable animal suffering but it is also responsible for a significant incidence of human adverse drug reactions (3). This is not surprising in view of our current knowledge of inter and even intra-species differences, based on genomics, complexity theory and evolutionary biology (4).

The pharmaceutical industry is best placed to make the paradigm change needed to replace outdated and unreliable animal tests with cost effective human relevant test methods, including human 3D cell culture, organs on chips, pharmacogenomics, and similar 21st century technologies that were previously unavailable (5).

Only the pharmaceutical industry has the resources to scientifically validate human based test methods and steer them through the regulatory framework.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Andre Menache BSc(Hons) BVSc Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL) MRCVS

AIA Chairman, on behalf of the Animal Interfaith Alliance

Dr Richard D. Ryder MA, DCP, PhD (Cantab), AFBPsS, FZS

AIA President

www.animal-interfaith-alliance.com 

References

1. https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6939-13-16
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594046/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9555760/ 
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29783296/
5. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-022-00209-1

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As we approach the end of 2022, we thought it was time to review some of the work we have undertaken and having done so, are thankful for the many opportunities God has presented us to share Orthodox teachings on Creation Care with both Orthodox Christians and people from other faiths and no faith.

In 2017 Dr Nellist was given the honour and blessing of the then Archbishop of Thyateira, Gregorios, and Met. Kallistos of Diokleia (Ware) to establish the POCA charity and website. In 2019, the blessing to continue this work was sought and given from the then newly appointed Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain.

Our first major initiative after the establishment of the charity and website was to produce the ‘CREATION CARE: CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY COURSE’. This is FREE and found on the Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals website –

www.panorthodoxconcernforanimals.org

This is a course for use in Christian parishes, youth groups, seminary institutions or for individual study. It may also provide a useful framework for homilies. 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 Christian tradition, where all animals are loved and protected by God and that their suffering is against God’s will. It reminds us that in our role as Image, we should strive to reflect the Archetype in our lives. At times, it also highlights the soteriological implications of our abuse and exploitation of God’s non-human animal beings. It reminds us that by causing harm to animals or by our indifference to it, human salvation is in jeopardy. It is written to facilitate Church engagement with the subjects of climate change and animal suffering, which, though separate subjects, are interconnected. This course was originally written for an Orthodox audience.  Our President was invited to speak at His All-Holiness Bartholomew’s Halki Summit 111 (2019) on behalf of the animal creation, who are frequently overlooked in Orthodox discussions. Whilst there she was asked by Met. Seraphim of Zimbabwe and Angola, to write a program on care for animals for his priests. This was then developed into the ‘Creation Care: Christian Responsibility Course’, which can be adapted by other denominations, as its teachings are universal. There are 7/8 Lessons each containing quotes from early and contemporary saints & theologians and end with discussion questions and quotation references for further study. The Lessons are:

1.  IN THE BEGINNING: GOD’S GOOD CREATION.
2.  COMPASSIONATE CARE: IMAGE OF GOD.
3.  WHAT IS DOMINION?
4.  BEHAVIOURAL GUIDANCE.
5.  SACRAMENTAL LIFE.
6. WHAT IS SIN AGAINST ANIMALS?
7. A ROLE FOR THE CHURCH.
8. PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF RESPONSIBLE CARE.

……….

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, public meetings during large parts of 20/21 were unlawful. Instead, numerous animal protection and scientific on-line zoom seminars were attended, and other initiatives were put in motion. We maintained our Facebook and Twitter engagement with the public by posting articles on aspects of creation care and related matters such as climate change on our website. www.panorthodoxconcernforanimals.org

We continued our collaboration and partnership with the Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare Research Project, with Met. Kallistos by collating his works from his private library for the Holy Gardens of Patmos library project; with the Animal Interfaith Alliance in the UK, with both Board and Patron representation, and on the Steering Committee dedicated to the ending of animal experimentation; with the Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration in the USA as Board member and where our President was an advisor on their ‘The Face of God’ film, which outlines teachings from Orthodoxy on Creation Care and Climate Change. https://faceofgodfilm.com/.

Met. Kallistos of Diokleia and friend. St John’s Monastery, Patmos.

(Photograph credit – I. Knights / www.charis-patmos.org)

……….

Another major initiative was to put out a call for chapters on ‘Creation Care and Climate Crisis, Justice and Sustainability’. This resulted in two substantial collections, which feature chapters by specialists with expertise in different disciplines, who wrote from different contexts, cultures, and religions. They came together to write with authority and clarity on various aspects of the climate crisis and care for the natural world. They wrote either from faith-based or secular perspectives but shared a vision and desire to explain why we are in this critical situation, ask difficult questions of us, governments, and civic leaders and explained how we might affect real change. Both were published In October, just before COP 26. Fr John Chryssavgis wrote the Foreword and Met. Kallistos of Diokleia (Ware) wrote the first chapter entitled: ‘An Integrated Theology: Compassion for Animals.’

Climate Crisis and Creation Care: Historical Perspectives, Ecological Integrity and Justice, ISBN 978-1-5275-742-5   Climate Crisis and Creation Care: Historical Perspectives, Ecological Integrity and Justice – Cambridge Scholars Publishing                                  

Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated Theology, Governance and Justice. ISBN 978-1-5275-7421-2  Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated Theology, Governance and Justice – Cambridge Scholars Publishing

……….

An invitation for POCA to participate in an intriguing research project and exploration of a contemporary Hexaemeron, was received from Prof. Catherine (Kate) Rigby in her capacity of Professor of Environmental Humanities at Bath Spa University and Adjunct Professor at Monash University. Her purpose is to identify and communicate examples of faith-based biodiversity conservation initiatives being undertaken by Christian and /or multi-faith communities and organisations in different parts of the world. Participating in this research provided POCA with the opportunity to share the story of our initiative, alongside Orthodox teachings on Creation Care. It also affords us opportunities for networking with others involved in similar initiatives elsewhere, which we view as opportunities for mission. The book will be published in 2023 and our work will be part of the reflection on the sixth day.

……….

With the blessing of Met. Kallistos, our next initiative was to further develop the POCA charity by including a Theological Advisory Group. After discussion with Met. Kallistos, two senior Orthodox theologians were invited to join POCA, and both accepted. Fr. Dr. John C h r y s s a v g i s is Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, serving as theological advisor to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew; the second is Archimandrite Jack Khalil who is Dean of the St John of Damascus Institute of Theology – University of Balamand in Lebanon and Professor of New Testament. This addition to our structure, further enables us to move the subject of animals, their welfare/suffering and place in God’s creation, away from the edges of Orthodox theological discussions and towards a more suitable position in mainstream theology.

……….

In February 2022 our President was invited by Prof. Paula Brugger of the Environmental Justice Observatory at the Federal University of Santa Catanna (UFSC), Brazil, to give a lecture to the students and staff at their annual Summer School about her environmental and animal protection work over the past five decades. She chose as her overarching theme, why theology was an important and often neglected part of animal protection. A video on this talk is available here: https://youtu.be/icEHTPdUcVs         

……….

In March our President was invited to write an Amicus Curiae brief by Steve Wise of the NoN-Human Rights Project on behalf of ‘Happy’ the Elephant. For those of you who do not know their work, see https://www.nonhumanrights.org/who-we-are/. Dr Nellist used three arguments:

.1) Using early Orthodox Christian teachings on the Trinity, she explained why the original use of the word ‘person’ a) should not have been ascribed to humans; b) nor used to distinguish between or separate human beings from non-human beings. She then argued how a modern contextualization of those teachings can inform contemporary discussions and legal decisions. 2) Using the philosophical tool of False Dilemma, she explained why this debate continues to be unresolved. 3) That laws and the science pertaining to this issue have changed over these past 1500 years, thus setting the precedent for further changes in the law on this issue to better reflect the science and social norms of contemporary society. She argued that these main points offered the court the opportunity to amend the law so that it better reflects the contemporary science and social recognition that differences between human beings and non-human beings is a matter of degree, not of kind. She argued that whichever term the court chooses to use – be it ‘person’, ‘being’ or some other word, it should be applied to both human and non-human animal beings. After writing the brief, Dr Nellist invited some of our supporters who are also senior academics to collaborate with her on the final draft and become co-signatories. These were Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis, Deputy Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Volos, Greece; Prof. Eleni Panagiotarakou, Faculty of Philosophy, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; Prof. Ekaterini Tsalampouni, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and Dr Razvan Porumb, Vice-Principal, The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The Amici Curiae brief was presented to the Court of Appeals of the State of New York and for the first time, resulted in two significant dissenting opinions.

……….

Also in March, we responded to the tragedy of the Ukrainian people fleeing from war. We had all been touched by refugees who were struggling to bring their animals out of Ukraine. Sometimes their animals were their only possession. Our question regarding quarantine and what was being done to help refugees and their animals coming to the UK, was asked on the BBC news channel. One respondent gave the usual comment – basically ‘people and children first’. The second response was far more considered and was from the BBC Home Affairs correspondent, who stated that he doubted if the government had even considered the question, which he felt was an important issue. He recognized that many if not most would not have the paperwork. We thanked the BBC for airing this question. We also asked people on our FB and Twitter pages to write to their M.Ps. We established a FB Fundraising page and raised £330, which was spent on food for the Sumy Animal Rescue Centre, where we have supporters. Just as importantly our question was taken up Lord Goldsmith on behalf of the government who within days, streamlined the system. Emergency support was put in place for people fleeing Ukraine and entering the UK with their pets, with the Government covering the costs of any necessary stays in quarantine for the pets of those fleeing Ukraine.

Food at the Sumy Shelter bought with the funds from our Facebook Ukrainian Fundraising Appeal

……….

In May our representatives attended an Animal Think Tank conference which explored the use of language and the power of narrative as a force for social change. A key tool of narrative exploration is using corpus linguistics, which analyses public discourse and can help determine the language, frames, metaphors, shared values, and mental models that will most activate people’s support of animal protection issues.

……….

In June, our President was given the honour of presenting at the first conference on “Eco wellbeing: Ethics, Animals and the Environment” at the famous Halki Theological School, on the island of Halki. This was attended by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and many clergy and seminarians. It was organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, together with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as part of their MA Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law programme, and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute.  A video of this lecture is here – https://youtu.be/m02UYRh46vM.

……….

Also in June, our President was interviewed by Paula Sparks of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Law, for their Talking Animal Law Podcast Series. This will be a first time a theologian has been asked to give opinions on animal protection and law. Again, this is another opportunity for us to witness to others from a completely different profession. This is forthcoming in 2023.  

……….

At the end of June, we were Invited by the Volos Academy to be part of their panel at the European Academy of Religion Conference in Bologna, Italy where our President presented a paper on ‘Creation Care, Christian Responsibility: Practical Proposals for Parish Priests.’  

A video of this talk will be available on our YouTube site when completed.

……….

At the end of June, we were in the Palace of Westminster supporting the work of Eduardo Goncalves (center) and attending the Parliamentary reception for the first reading of the Ban Trophy Hunting Imports Bill and the publication of the All-Party Report on Trophy Hunting.

In the Palace of Westminster (UK Parliament) with Eduardo Goncalves, Founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting and Judith Wilson from Quaker Concern for Animals and Animal Interfaith Alliance. See www.BanTrophyHunting.org for more information on this important work.

……….

In August our President attended the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Summer Conference, which this year was dedicated to discussions and presentation on Animals and Public Policy. We are witnessing a change in attitudes to animals – from the idea that they are tools, machines, commodities, here for our use, to the idea that they are sentient beings who have intrinsic value, dignity, and rights. The Summer School discussed how that change of attitude should be embodied, implemented, and institutionalized in public policy, including legislation, education, business, arts, sciences, literature, and religion. Our President is a Fellow at the Centre and regularly attends and occasionally presents at these conferences.

……….

In September our President attended the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law Conference to hear the latest developments in Animal Law.

……….

POCA’s Annual General Meeting was held this time at midday so that one of our supporters from Australia could attend and speak about the plight of Animals in Australia and her desire to involve the Orthodox Church in meaningful engagement on the subject.

……….

In October, our President and one of our Trustees attended the Animal Aid celebration of the work XCellR8 laboratory’s project to replace the widely discredited LD50 toxicity test, which currently uses over 80,000 animals per year in the EU alone, despite being widely discredited both ethically and scientifically. POCA President Dr Nellist has written on animal experimentation, denouncing it as a sin and contrary to the teachings of Christ and Orthodoxy. We are pleased to announce that in the USA, The FDA Modernization Act has now been approved by both houses of the US congress. This will no longer require animal testing as a legal requirement. From as long ago as 2004, the FDA recognized the shockingly high failure rate, 90-97%, of the animal testing model. It is also recognized both by the FDA and ‘big pharma’ that from the small percentage that are given licenses, many drugs are withdrawn due to safety concerns to human health, which included deaths. See https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/center-for-contemporary-sciences-ccs-applauds-congress-for-passing-the-fda-modernization-act-that-will-save-millions-of-lives-301709763.html.

This puts the US well ahead of the UK in terms of legislation to actively encourage the replacement of outdated and failing animal testing with human based 21st century technology. We shall continue the fight to end this abomination.

……….

Also in October, our President was Interviewed by Dr Lois Sprague, President of The Guibord Center in the USA www.TheGuibordCenter.org   They have asked us to produce a short video on our work and our faith for their ‘The Animals, Faith and Creation’ initiative which is focused on the values that different spiritual traditions teach about our responsibility to care for all Creation and to treat it as a sacred gift. See How Different Faiths See Animals and Our Relationship with Them – The Guibord Center

……….

In November one of our representatives attended the Remembrance Service at the Animals in War Memorial in London, on behalf of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals and the Animal Interfaith Alliance. This was another wonderfully moving service on behalf of the millions of animals who died and are still dying in human conflict.

……….

Also in November, it was back to the Palace of Westminster for the Parliamentary celebration of the passing of the Second Reading of the Ban Trophy Hunting Imports Bill. Here our President met with Dame Jane Goodall, who has already kindly agreed to do a short video for us as she was unable to participate as hoped, on our panel on Creation Care Christian Responsibility at the forthcoming IOTA conference in Volos in January. Dr Nellist also spoke again with Lord Goldsmith who will send through some of his short addresses for the website.

……….

In early December the final interview was undertaken, with Prof Kate Rigby for her forthcoming book on the Hexaemeron, where the work of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals is discussed in Kate’s reflection of the 6^th Day of Creation.

……….

As December closes, the finishing touches are being made to two papers being presented at the POCA initiative Creation Care Christian Responsibility Panel at the International Orthodox Theological Conference in Volos in January.  Dr Christina will give a short dedication to our inaugural Patron and Founder Met. Kallistos of Diokleia, followed by a discussion of his life-long concern for animals and the environment. Her paper is entitled: CREATION CARE: METROPOLITAN KALLISTOS OF DIOKLEIA’S TEACHINGS ON ORTHODOXY, ANIMALS AND NATURE. Fr Simon Nellist, retired Archpriest of Tanzania, and Treasurer of POCA, will give a paper entitled: THE MISSION FIELDS OF COMPASSIONATE ACTIVISM. At the end of the session Dr Nellist will put out a notice asking for people to contact her with information of groups or initiatives that Met. Kallistos was involved in.

……….

As you have seen, these past few years have given us many opportunities to promote the important subject of Creation Care both within and outside of Orthodoxy. We shall continue to ask for guidance from our forever Patron, who we are convinced will help us from his new home with the Fathers and Saints in the Kingdom. We have received numerous emails from Orthodox Christians and others informing us of how our work and the material that we have produced on our website, has helped them in a variety of ways and we are profoundly humbled and grateful to have received each one of them. Your help and support will also be vital to our continued progress.

With love in Christ to you all for a blessed and healthy 2023.

Sadly, there are many pets that are homeless in the UK and elsewhere in the world. You can help reduce this alarming number by advocating for these defenceless animals, just like Pan-Orthodox Concern for Animals.

Rehome a pet

Rehoming an animal instead of purchasing them from a breeder is one of the key ways you can reduce pet homelessness.

● Visit one of the many pet shelters in your country. There are many different shelters to choose from, so find one in your area or neighbourhood that’s trying to make a difference for animals.

Preparation

● Get your home ready for your companion animal. This will be by firstly, making sure you are aware of your animal’s specific needs. Hampsters, for example, have different needs to cats and dogs. There are many sites, such as the RSPCA, where information can be found. Apart from making sure you have somewhere suitable for your animal to sleep, ensure you have a harness/leash/collar and tag with your animal’s name and your contact telephone number, plus toys, etc for stimulation of the body and mind. You also need to pet-proof your home to make it a safe by securing your boundary, putting away harmful chemicals, some house plants and chocolates!

Bonding

● Take time to bond with them by implementing routines they can get used to, such as regular walks, which will help them become housetrained and physically and mentally stimulated. Also, be sure to set aside time in your day for quality bonding with your pet.

Going Further.

Maybe you might want to start a non-profit organisation or a blog on animal protection? If so, there are many sites on the internet that can advise you on how to begin.

Social Media

● Make use of social media to help build a loyal following for your cause. You can upload a PDF to Facebook in some cases if you want to provide detailed information about your organisation in a succinct format.

Donate

All Animal Protection groups big and small, are always in need of funding. If you have the resources to donate to organisations that need them, then be sure to contact them right away to help animals that are in desperate need of love and care.

● Look at different animal charities and donate whenever you can. Charities often cover different things (stopping animal abuse, helping rescue animals, etc.), so find one whose mission statement stirs a fire in your heart.

● Another way to help animals in dire situations is by donating items to the animal charity/shelter/sanctuary. In addition to food and supplies, you could also donate items like towels, blankets, and bedding.

It is easier nowadays to advocate for a worthy cause, especially if it involves the welfare of animals because people aren’t afraid to speak up anymore. This is my contribution to this cause.

Mike Nicholson of dogfriends.co,

The positions expressed in this essay by one of our supporters are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals Charity.

Today I write a brief note about part of our Ministry.

Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals is part of the Green Christian Network, and as such, received this email. Below it is our response, which in turn received a very positive response.

We share in the Ecumenical Patriarch and Met. Kallistos of Diokleia’s vision, for Creation Care ministry at all levels from education in our seminaries to local Green Parishes. This is just one example of how, be it as a group, parish or individual, can assist in this precious Ministry:

‘I am currently writing a thesis on “How can Scripture Engagement be used to promote Creation Care in Evangelical Churches in Jos, Nigeria?”

I work with Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Nigeria translating the Bible in different languages and encouraging people to engage with Scripture in life changing ways.

We also saw that most of the communities we work with are small scale farmers and wanted to help them connect with Scriptures so we run “Faith and Farming” workshops. In these workshops we discuss farmers and farming in the Bible and Creation Care.

As you can see from my thesis above, my desire is to do lots of advocacy in Churches in the towns in addition with the workshops we run in villages and classes we teach at Bible colleges.

We are taking small steps here even in the midst of deep poverty.’

…

Dear John,

I am responding as part of the Green Christian network.

I am Dr Christina Nellist and just before COP 26, I produced two books on this very theme.

One of the contributors, Obaji Agbiji, wrote this chapter:

Religious practitioners and Ecological Justice: Engaging ‘Value for Community’ as Lens for Ecological Justice in Africa. This speaks to Africa but to Nigeria in particular.

You will find it in this book Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated Theology, Governance and Justice, both on Amazon and the publishers -Cambridge Scholars Publishing – website.

I hope this will help you with your great ministry,

Dr Chris Nellist

…

Hi Dr. Christina,

Your book is so so helpful!

Many thanks.

John

By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church: Grace, Peace and Mercy from the Maker of All Creation, Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ

Most reverend brother Hierarchs and beloved children in the Lord,

    As we enter, with God’s blessing, the new ecclesiastical year today, we honor with the Feast of the Indiction the “Day of protecting the natural environment” and offer glory and gratitude to the Creator of all for the “great gift of creation.”

    We proclaim once again with all our heart that the respect for creation and the constant concern for its protection belong to the core of our Orthodox identity as one of its most precious elements. The Church recognizes and teaches that the cause of human alienation from the “very good” creation and one’s fellow human beings is the “alienation from God.” It boldly reminds us that there Is no authentic freedom without the Truth and outside the Truth, which is the power that truly liberates. “Know the truth, and the truth will free you” (John 8.32).

    For over three decades, the Holy Great Church of Christ emphatically and dynamically promotes the eco-friendly message of Orthodoxy through its diverse initiatives. September 1, 1989, will forever signify and symbolize the commencement of a movement that produced much fruit, raised awareness about the spiritual and ethical roots and parameters of the destruction of the natural environment, mobilized individuals and institutions, inspired the rest of the Christian world, highlighted the way of responding to this great challenge – a way that passes firstly through an understanding of its connection with the crisis of human freedom and the need for radical change in mentality and conduct with a view to creation, and secondly through a common and universal action given the global dimensions and tragic consequences of the ecological destruction.

    An invaluable legacy for the future lies in the many important writings on the field of theological ecology, among which the work of the professor and academician, His Eminence Elder Metropolitan John of Pergamon, retain a prominent place. An inexhaustible source of inspiration will also be found in the presentations of the nine water-borne international symposia, which hosted renowned specialists and scientists as well as representatives of the cultural and spiritual worlds. These texts are especially beneficial for environmental learning, which has carved out a significant place in contemporary education. As it has rightly been said: “In the future, an education without ecological orientation will be a parody of education.”

    Sustainable development is a one-way street. It will secure ecological balance in the present and constitute a guarantee for the future, but it has its conditions: ecological economy, changes in agricultural and biomechanical productivity, the production and use of energy, the movement and transportation of goods, new models of consumption, and so on. Unfortunately, good intentions, agreements and proclamations often remain theoretical, merely “big words,” without any impact on action, “superficial injunctions,” as it has been written. Humankind has not learned from the consequences of climate change, the destructive fires, heat waves, and floods, the rapid reduction in biodiversity, the pollution of the atmosphere and seas, the deforestation and social repercussions of the environmental crisis, above all revealed in the mass migration for ecological reasons. Humanity continues to be deluded about the innate capacity of nature to protect itself and overcome human-induced damages. 

     We know, and yet we continue to act as if uninformed, suppressing the truth that with regard to its relationship to the natural environment, our modern technocratic and econo-centered civilization does not comprise progress, since the greatest devastation of the natural environment has taken place in our own time, and age where science and economy prevail. Climate change is an immense destruction caused by human irresponsibility and the impasse of our model of organization in the life of our economy. We only have a future if we understand that the protection of the integrity of creation does not only not comprise a hurdle for economic development, but is the vehicle for real progress.

    This year, the celebration of the Day of the protection of creation are accompanied by the sound of weapons in Ukraine, by the cry of the victims of military violence, the bombardment of cities and infrastructures, the groaning of nature and moaning of refugees. Every war is a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe. The ongoing violence, beyond the thousands of human lives, also destroys the natural environment that it pollutes, forcing nations and peoples to return to ways of securing energy efficiency through means that are unfriendly to the environment. Thus, humanity enters a new vicious cycle of destructive impasses, which confirm the saying that homo sapiens to this day continues to behave simultaneously as homo demens, as imprudent and irrational.

    Brothers in the Lord and blessed children,

    For the Church, the elements of the world – according to a theological formulation – “are not simply utilitarian or useful material for the individual needs of human beings, but they are actions of the Person of the one Creator”. Everything created by God blesses, praises and exalts God to the ages, the heavens declare His glory. This is the message expressed by the concern of the Great Church for the protection of creation. The life of the Church of Christ is a foretaste of all that we expect in the Kingdom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On our way to the Eschaton, the Holy Church offers to the world the Gospel of grace as its guide and the unswerving certainty that evil, in all its forms, will not have the final word in history.

    In closing, we wish you a blessed and fruitful new ecclesiastical year, and we call upon all of you, through the intercessions of the First-among-the-saints Theotokos Pammakaristos, the life-giving grace and great mercy of the creator and redeemer of all, the pioneer and perfecter of our immaculate faith to whom be the glory and the dominion unto everlasting ages. Amen!

    September 1, 2022

    †Bartholomew of Constantinople
    Fervent supplicant for all before God

To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,
Dear beloved children in the Lord,
Today marks the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year and is a day we have, in recent times, set aside to pray for God’s creation, remember our place within it, and look towards its care.
As the scientific community vocally sounds the alarm on the human impact on worldwide ecology, we are increasingly aware of the climate crisis facing us. We are now, in the last few decades, coming to fully understand the power humanity has to harm the natural world.
We know from the Scriptures that God has given mankind dominion “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28). Now it seems that this dominion, misdirected, has been extended so that we also have a measure of control to shape even the climate on God’s earth on which we live. The worldwide consensus grows day by day that mankind has misused its stewardship of the earth and that the consequences of such mismanagement are increasingly more serious.
We must take these alarms seriously. The climate crisis is predicted to drastically harm the lives of future generations, especially in the third world, where many regions are expected to become inhospitable, leading to famine. Our Lord tells us that all the Law and the Prophets depend on the two great commandments: the love of God and the love of our neighbor (cf. Matt. 22:38-40). Thus, care for our climate and ecosystem is not merely a material problem, it is also a spiritual problem. It is of critical concern to face this spiritual challenge presented by the climate crisis.
Likewise, it is spiritually harmful to thoughtlessly consume the natural world around us; it is an abuse of God’s gift. As the Psalmist declares, “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 23:1). This world is God’s creation declared to be good (cf. Gen. 1). We are merely stewards, never owners, and we have a responsibility to exercise moderation, to care for the earth, and to do what is in our power to stop its exploitation and destruction.

This means that, even if there were no environmental alarms being sounded, our calling to care for the environment remains. We remember that at the creation of the world, “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed … and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gen. 2:8, 15). It was in this garden that Adam and Eve, the first human beings, received their vocations as caretakers of paradise.
Thus, care for the natural world, the climate, and ecosystem is for us a quiet echo of the first calling of man given by our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ before we wore “garments of skin” (Gen. 3:21) and the pollution of sin spread. It is a reminder of our pilgrimage towards our true home in the Kingdom of God, the heavenly Eden, where there is “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit… and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:1-2).
I encourage all to take up this ancient vocation of man and begin by individually finding practical ways to become good stewards of the world in which we find ourselves. Aspire to “live quietly” as the Apostle Paul instructs (cf. 1 Thess. 4:11) and reject the ravenous consumerism which devours our hearts as it devours everything else. Reduce your carbon footprint and avoid waste whenever possible. Plant trees and gardens, to not only help the environment but to remind you that during our time on earth we are “aliens and exiles” (1 Pet. 2:11) traveling towards paradise and the gardens of the age to come.
I urge our institutions, dioceses, monasteries, and parishes: take the lead in your respective areas, whether organizing large efforts to become more ecologically responsible, reducing carbon footprints, or taking climate concerns into account when planning. From diocesan initiatives to beautifying parish properties and gardens to the prayer of individuals at home, we all have our vocations in caring for the world which God has given us.
It is my sincere hope that in coming years and decades the Orthodox Church in America will become a leader in North America of good ecological stewardship; and that, for the outside world, we will be held up as examples of responsible, humble living, as befits followers of the gospel.
Let us always give thanks to Him Who “bestowest upon us earthly good things” and “Who hast given us a pledge of the promised kingdom through the good things already bestowed upon us” (Sixth Prayer of Vespers). May God bless our efforts as we strive to become ever better stewards of His many gifts.

I remain sincerely yours in Christ,
+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

P.O. Box 675 Syosset, New York, 11791
516-922-0550 – metropolitan@oca.org – www.oca.org

Factory farming is deadly — fuelling future pandemics and the climate crisis. This morning, Humane Being, a non-profit running the “Scrap Factory Farming” campaign, filed a new case appealing to the European Court of Human Rights to hold the UK Government accountable for failing to protect people from the life-threatening risks posed by factory farms.
The group claims that the Government’s support of factory farming is risking millions of deaths from the climate crisis, future pandemics and antibiotic resistance. The campaign’s legal team, headed by renowned human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC, says that the Government is well aware of these risks and is failing to both inform and protect the public.
Lorna Hackett, Head of Legal Practice at Hackett & Dabbs, which is bringing the challenge, says:
‘This world-first case joins a growing list of cases before the ECHR seeking to address the climate crisis, but is unique in also addressing pandemic and antibiotic resistance risks. Unlike cases already before the court from France, Switzerland and Portugal, our challenge to the UK
Government specifically identifies the climate risks posed by runaway agricultural methane
emissions and deforestation. Factory farming at current levels is simply not compatible with the
Government’s emission reduction commitments, including the Global Methane Pledge.’

Speaking to the risks of a future pandemic posed by factory farming, Dr. Alice Brough, a UK pig
veterinarian and co-claimant to the legal challenge, said:
‘Intensive farms create the perfect breeding ground for disease, including those with human
pandemic potential, with thousands of stressed animals crammed into filthy environments. Due
to the conditions and common practices, antibiotics are often required in excess on these farms, furthering the risk to humans. Only recently scientists found superbugs in UK meat.
Since October 2021 there have been 116 UK outbreaks of avian influenza, an historically and
currently pertinent zoonosis — almost a 400% increase on the 2020-21 season.
The vast feed requirements for intensively farmed animals lead to devastating deforestation in
other parts of the world, such as South America, and contribute significantly to the climate crisis. Every part of this practice is a ticking time bomb for our species.’

Dr. Shireen Kassam, a medical consultant supporting the campaign, added:
‘We are at risk of a pandemic far worse than Covid-19. The Government has plans for dealing with 750,000 deaths from a flu pandemic which history and science show is most likely to come from a commercial animal farm.
Farm use of antibiotics contributes to antimicrobial resistance which is already killing 1.27
million people globally each year. In 2020 the UK Government was reporting 178 new antibiotic
resistant infections every day in England alone.
Heat related deaths in the UK currently number 4000 and will only get worse due to climate’
change, as we see more extreme weather like the heatwave last week.’

The campaign’s lawyers have asked for their application to be given priority assessment by the court.
Press contact: For more information, contact Dr Alice Brough, 07904 671823, Jane Tredgett (Founder of Humane Being) 07710 317422, David Finney (instigator of the idea of the legal challenge) 07521 991645, Robert Gordon (Humane Being spokesperson) 07422 651776 or Lorna Hackett, Barrister 07515359234.

1. Global Methane Pledge
2. Superbug in UK meat (The Guardian)
3. UK avian flu data collated from Government data 23 May 2022 – Updated Outbreak Assessment #26 (outbreaks 1 to 112, 66 of which in “commercial premises” with
   turkeys, hens, broiler chickens, ducks = 59%) 20 Jun 2022 – Updated Outbreak Assessment #28 (outbreaks 79 to 116)
4. 1.27 million deaths per year from antibiotic resistance (The Lancet)
5. 178 new antibiotic infections per day in England (The UK Government)
6. 4000 heat wave deaths – HM Government. “UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017”. January 2017. pp. 12-13 Met Office says “The chances of seeing 40°C days in the UK could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence” Most of the science is summarised in our research booklet https://78460747.flowpaper.com/FactoryFarmingisharminganimalspeopleandtheplanet/
   • For information on the connection of antibiotic resistance to factory farming see pages 117 – 137
   • For information on deforestation / factory farm feed see pages 153- 157, 166 and 167
   • For information on Government predictions re an influenza pandemic see pages 17 – 23
   • For pandemics in history see pages 28 -36
   • For a study on the origins of avian flu outbreaks (56% from commercial farms) see page 38
   Scrap Factory Farming / Humane Being
   For more information about Humane Being and to follow us, please visit
   • W: www.humanebeing.org.uk www.scrapfactoryfarming.org
   • F : www.facebook.com/HumaneBeing2019 https://www.facebook.com/ScrapFactoryFarming
   • T: www.twitter.com/ScrapFactFarm I: www.instagram.com/scrapfactoryfarming
   This team of volunteers are raising funds for their legal fees – contributions can be made
   at https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/scrapfactoryfarming/ or
   or at https://www.scrapfactoryfarming.org/donate/
   
   Other relevant legal cases
   • Danish Crown case for greenwashing their products
   • Major Livestock company in legal battle over price fixing
   • Legal battle over advertising claims of US livestock company Hormel Foods
   • Tesco threatened with Legal Action over poultry pollution in the River Wye
   • Chicken farmers taking class action against Major poultry processor for poor working conditions
   • Food campaigners taking legal action against the government for failing to support a transition to reduce meat and dairy consumption

The ALAW Link group has sent a letter to all the Tory leadership candidates asking about their position on animal welfare and the outstanding bills.  AIA is signed up to this and POCA is a member of AIA. 

We shall publish the responses received.

This is the link to the full report.

It is a large and very well researched document, which will leave you wondering how on earth such a system can still exist in the 21st century. Please share widely, and please include your MP.

https://appgtrophyhunting.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/final-pdf-report-britain-trophy-hunting-the-case-for-a-ban-e28093-a-report-of-the-all-party-parliamentary-group-on-banning-trophy-hunting-29-june-2022-1.pdf

Volos panel on “Crossing boundaries in eco-theological formation: Embracing plurality and God’s creation, transforming community”, Speakers included Dr. Christina Nellist (Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics), Dr. Ionut Biliuta (Romanian Academy), and Rev. Dr. Amphilochios Miltos (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, in absentia).

European Academy of Religion
Conference Completion
June 20-23,
Bologna, Italy

 The annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe) took place this year in Bologna, with a physical presence, between June 20 and 23. A major event for scholars working on Religious Studies and Theology, the Conference of EuARe brought together about 800 participants from all over the world, creating an interesting inter-religious and interdisciplinary dialogue. This year’s Conference was organized by the Fondanzione per le Scienze Religiose (Fscire) of Bologna and the general topic was “Religion and Diversity”.
Volos Academy participated with three panels, while associates of the Volos Academy presented papers in seven more sessions. In detail:
1. On Monday, June 20, Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis (Deputy Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies; Lecturer, Hellenic Open University) participated in the panel “George Florovsky’s Neo-Patristic Synthesis and the contemporary Catholic turn to contextual Catholic theology”, organized by Dr. Thomas Cattoi (Jesuit School of Theology-Santa Clara University – Graduate Theological Union) and chaired by Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk (St Thomas University, Minneapolis, USA). The panel explored the points of contact between the neo-patristic vision of Georges Florovsky and the contemporary Catholic turn to contextual theology, facing issues like the dichotomy between “the wisdom of the Fathers” and contemporary theological reflection, or Catholicism’s growing appreciation of theological inculturation, as well as the encounter between Florovsky and his Roman Catholic counterpart, Jean Daniélou with regards to the reception of patristic tradition. Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis spoke on “The Fathers as a means or as a normative criterion of doing Orthodox theology? Florovsky in dialogue with Nouvelle Théologie on the nature of theology”.

 2. The same day, Mr. Georgios Vlantis (Director of the Council of Christian Churches-ACK in Bavaria; Research Associate of Volos Academy) participated in the panel “Minority as a key perspective on religious-Christian diversity in Europe: How are religious life and church structured and interpreted in sociological minority settings?”, chaired by Dr. Matthias Ehmann (Theological Supreme School of Ewersbach). The panel addressed the issue of the coexistence of majority and minority churches in different countries in Europe, strongly affected by the migrating movements of the 20^th century and the increased secularization of European countries. Georgios Vlantis spoke on “Evangelization or Diaspora? Eastern Orthodox Minorities in the West”, focusing on the challenges connected with the Orthodox presence in Germany.
3. On Tuesday, June 21, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis (Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Member of the Executive Committee of the EuAre, Research Associate of the Universities KU Leuven and Münster) participated in the panel “Deification East and West: New Approaches”, chaired by Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk, along with speakers such as Dr. Norman Russell (St. Stephen’s House, University of Oxford), Dr. Frederick Aquino (Abilene Christian University) and Dr. Mark McInroy (University of St. Thomas). The panel attempted a comprehensive treatment of deification to date with methodological and hermeneutical precision and clear articulation of points of convergence and difference or even disagreement on the constitutive elements of deification in different authors and traditions and, finally, its foundational significance for future ecumenical dialogue. Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis spoke on “Deification in Contemporary Greek Orthodox Authors”

4. The same day, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, along with Katerina Pekridou (Conference of European churches, CEC), Prof. Aristotle Papanikolaou (Fordham University, NY), Prof. Kristina Stoeckl (Universität Innsbruck), and Rev. Dr. Cyril Hovorun (Stockholm School of Theology) participated in the panel “Theologies and Practices of Religious Pluralism: Christian perspectives – Session on Orthodoxy”, chaired by Dr. José Casanova (Georgetown University). This panel was part of a larger project which investigates current debates and issues on pluralism within and across religious traditions and the way some of these debates are reshaping the status of religion in different public spaces, in the light of recent events such as the Ecumenical movement(s) and the Second Vatican Council, which initiated shifts in thinking about religious diversity among Christians as well as the regime of truth of other religious traditions. Pantelis Kalaitzidis spoke on “Theological Pluralism and Academic Freedom in Orthodox Theology”

5. The same day, Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis chaired a panel on “Crossing boundaries in eco-theological formation: Embracing plurality and God’s creation, transforming community”, Speakers included Dr. Christina Nellist (Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics), Dr. Ionut Biliuta (Romanian Academy), and Rev. Dr. Amphilochios Miltos (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, in absentia). The session focused on the human-induced climate crisis and the relationship of animal rights with climate crisis, and it demonstrated examples of good practices from various contexts and suggest possible eco-theological initiatives, addressing the ongoing climate crisis (e.g. Green parishes), highlighting the need of ethical principles to guide both the continuation of human activity and economic development.

6. The same day, Dr. Nikos Kouremenos participated in the panel “The Creed Atlas”, chaired by Dr. Antonio Gerace of Fscire. The panel studied the translations of the Creed in the Early Modern Era, through the analysis of primary sources such as catechisms and manual of doctrines, with specialists in different languages, also exploring the new opportunities that digital tools have introduced while researching on digitized primary sources, thus improving our awareness of the semantic nuances occurring while defining the theological foundation of the faith. Nikos Kouremenos spoke on “The Apostolic Creed in the Greek Translations of the Luther’‘ s Small Catechism: Preliminary remarks”.

 7. On Wednesday, June 22, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis chaired and spoke in the panel on “The Declaration of Orthodox Theologians on the Russian World”. The Declaration, published on March 13^th, rebuked the argument of the existence of a “Russian World” which, in addition to Russia, includes the states of Belarus and Ukraine but also of Moldova and Kazakhstan, and the discussion in the panel focused on the evolution of the idea of Russian World through time, its acceptance and promotion by the various social strata in Russia, but also by conservative and right-wing movements all over the world. Participants in the panel included Dr. José Casanova (Georgetown University), Rev. Dr. Cyril Hovorun (Stockholm School of Theology), Annamária Amik (independent journalist and translator, Romania), and Dr. Kristina Stoeckl (Universität Innsbruck, Austria).
8. The same day, Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis joined the panel on “The diversity of hermeneutical approaches: The Future of Scripture and Theology”, chaired by Dr. Elisabeth Maikranz (Universität Heidelberg) and Dr. Roger Revell (University of Oxford), which addressed a wide range of hermeneutical challenges facing contemporary biblical interpretation and theology. From the outset, theology has stemmed from such hermeneutical pursuits. Even Scripture itself can be understood as a collection of hermeneutical attempts to understand the actions of God and humans’ experiences of God. The multivarious ways of practicing hermeneutics provide an excellent opportunity to explore new ideas and learn how to bring the past into new ways of speaking. Dr. Asproulis spoke in the session on “The Future of Scripture and Theology”.

 9. The same day, Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis participated in the session of the RESILIENCE Consortium “RESILIENCE meets the community”. This panel was moderated by Dr. Karla Boersma. RESILIENCE, the Research Infrastructure in Religious Studies, has reached the next phase. This means that the consortium continues developing the RI, addressing both the demand of knowledge about religions and of technical tools enhancing that demand, but also making its services available, like Transnational Access Scholarships (TNA), providing direct, fast, and effective access to collections, guided by experts, and the ReIReSearch database, where is available for disparate digital resources and databases related to Religious Studies in a unified and standardized way.
10. Finally, on Thursday, June 23, Mr. Georgios Vlantis chaired the panel “‘For the Life of the World’: The Document of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church”. This document was published in early 2020, aiming to offer a strong theological impulse to the discussion on Orthodox social ethics, being a fruit of the intensive collaboration of a great network of Orthodox theologians from various contexts and approved by the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The panel reflected on the theological contributions of the document and also on its inter-orthodox and ecumenical reception. Mr. Vlantis introduced the document commenting on “Conciliar processes and academic freedom”. Speakers included also Dr. Dimitrios Keramidas (Pontificia Università “San Tommaso d’Aquino”, Angelicum), Rev. Dr. Dietmar Shon OP (Eastern Church Institute, Regensburg), and Inga Leonova (editor-in-chief, “The Wheel” journal).
In addition to the Conference sessions, EuARe had the annual meeting of its General Assembly, which held elections of the new Executive committee. Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Director of the Volos Academy, was re-elected as a member of the Executive Committee for its next four years term. 

 More photos on the Volos Academy Website. 

US hunting lobby spent £1m on fight to delay UK trophy import ban

UK government put under ‘considerable pressure’, says chair of all-party parliamentary group on banning trophy hunting

Helena Horton Environment reporter of the Guardian newspaper confirms what we already knew Wed 29 Jun 2022 06.00 BST

The US hunting lobby has spent £1m putting pressure on the government to delay the trophy import ban, a new report by MPs has found.

Boris Johnson promised to ban the imports of these trophies three years ago, but the legislation has still not gone through parliament. Because of the delay, the Conservative MP and animal welfare campaigner Henry Smith has put forward his own private member’s bill to ban imports of hunting trophies.

A new report from the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on banning trophy hunting has detailed the lobbying efforts of international hunting groups.

The report found that the US-based hunting lobby group Safari Club International (SCI) spent £1m on a campaign to change the minds of MPs and the British public about a ban on imports of endangered species’ body parts.

SCI is the world’s biggest trophy hunting group. It awards prizes to its members for killing large numbers of endangered animals. Founded in the 1970s, it is one of the biggest corporate donors to politicians’ campaigns in the US, and calls itself “the leading defender of the freedom to hunt”.

The APPG report found the SCI funded a Facebook page called Let Africa Live, which posted claims such as: “The UK is about to destroy local economies in Africa.” Although the page insinuated it was created by local groups in African countries, an investigation found it was funded by SCI from a pot of money called the Hunter Legacy 100 Fund. The campaign eventually had its page shut down by Facebook, whose head of security said: “The people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination.”

The Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale, chair of the APPG, said fierce lobbying had alerted the government that this could be a “contentious” issue.

He added: “The government, if something is contentious, always pleads for more time, but we need to get on with it. The US gun lobby has been lobbying like mad … Safari Club International has put a considerable amount of pressure on the government.

“I have my own calls with the prime minister. I think he is broadly committed to putting this legislation through, but it needs to be done without worrying about this lobbying.”

Earlier this year there was a fierce row in the Conservative party, with ministers saying Johnson was close to scrapping the ban after campaigning from the shooting and hunting lobby. At the time, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation welcomed the news, saying a ban would damage conservation. Supporters of trophy hunting say that funds raised by the practice are needed to fund conservation efforts and support local economies.

The APPG report says that lion, elephant and rhino numbers have increased in Kenya, where trophy hunting is banned, while lion numbers also recovered strongly in Zambia and Zimbabwe after temporary trophy hunting bans.

The primate expert Jane Goodall told the APPG: “Trophy hunters kill for pleasure. They destroy animals for bragging rights, to demonstrate their supposed fearlessness and courage. The hunting lobby will work hard to preserve the status quo. If we want to maintain our reputation as an animal-loving nation, all hunting trophies should be banned. Time is of the essence. Many of the species killed by trophy hunters are close to extinction.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “We are committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species. This ban will be among the strongest in the world, leading the way in protecting endangered animals. And we welcome the private member’s bill, led by Henry Smith MP.”

An SCI spokesperson said the deleted Facebook page was made by a contractor, not by club management. They said: “The truth is that in a misguided effort, and unbeknownst to SCI, a sub-contracted vendor took unauthorised action by using falsified social media accounts. While it is regrettable that they betrayed the trust of the hunting community by unnecessarily resorting to questionable tactics, the information the vendor conveyed regarding hunting and conservation is verifiably true and is made no less relevant by unsound methods of distribution.”

George P. Nassos

Let’s Benefit From Nature Rather Than Destroying It

Have you ever wondered what the earth was like before humans inhabited it and started to change it? The earth consisted of trees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, birds, animals, soil, water and fish. The trees produce thousands of blossoms in order to bear fruits. The blossoms will eventually fall to the ground and enrich the soil. The birds can eat the fruit and the seeds fall to the ground to produce more trees. Animals eat the plants and other smaller animals, and when they die they become food for another animal or deteriorate and fertilize the soil. Basically, God designed nature to sustain itself without producing any waste. It is a great precedent of the circular economy that we are trying to emulate.

There are two great books about this phenomena. One is “Cradle to Cradle” by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart where they describe how everything that is taken from the earth should be returned to the earth, thus the title of the book. Another classic is “Biomimicry” by Janine Benyus where she presents biological concepts that are available to us for adoption. Basically the book is about learning from nature and how to adopt these sciences for a better environment.

What are some ways we can benefit from nature? We are already taking advantage of the sun to generate solar energy but it has really taken off only in the last two decades even though it has been available for over 60 years. The photovoltaic cell was discovered accidentally by Bell Labs around 1954, but I recall seeing solar water heating on a home in Greece 10 years later. The great impetus, however, has been primarily due to the huge decrease in the cost of solar panels such as the period from 1980 to 2012 when the cost of panels decreased 97%. Due to the current problem with supply chains, the cost may increase somewhat. In any event, we should continue taking advantage of this free fuel that will help save the environment.

Geothermal is another excellent source of energy for heating and cooling. In any geographical area of the earth, the temperature of the subsurface, say 8 to 10 feet down, is relatively constant all year long. If you are in an area where this temperature is 55°F., pipes can be inserted in the ground to this level through which air can be passed and cooled to this temperature in the summer. This cooler air can then be used in place of an air-conditioner to cool your home. In the winter, the same system can be used to provide 55°F. air for the heating furnace. The cold outside air would be preheated before passing through the furnace. This would make the heating system much more efficient rather than heating outside air at a much lower temperature.

A major cost of this system depends on the land area available for inserting the pipes below the ground. If the property is sufficiently large, the pipes can be installed horizontally at the 10 foot depth. If the property is too small, then the pipes would have to be installed vertically at a depth much below the 10 feet so the processed air can be sufficiently cooled or heated.

Another natural science that has not been used very much for producing energy is the common tidal wave. This is a shallow water wave caused by the gravitational interactions between the sun, moon and earth. In areas where there is a significant tidal range, which is the difference between high tide and low tide, there are opportunities to generate electricity. This form of renewable energy is still very new with no tidal power plants operating in the U.S. The first one was located in La Rance, France while the largest in the world is in South Korea. Some of the negatives for this technology to move forward include legal issues about the land ownership, improving the generator technology, and improving the economics. In any event, this is another example of using nature rather than degrading it.

Geothermal and tidal wave energy are two nature-sourced examples that would probably be used by developed countries. What can developing countries do to make use of nature? They can adopt some of the systems being used by Gaviotas, a small village in Colombia that was created about 50 years ago. To control the amount of water used for agricultural plants, they made use of a clay-like soil. The watering tube was inserted through a porous shell containing the clay. If there was sufficient water, it would expand the clay which would pinch close the watering tube. The village also built a watering tank for the cattle that was surrounded by a sloping cement floor. As cattle were brought to drink, their cow pies slid down the floor to a gutter. This cattle manure was subsequently converted to compost, and the released methane was captured to fuel stove burners at their hospital.

The engineers in Gaviotas also developed a children’s seesaw that would drive a water pump. Another idea was for drying hospital linens after they were washed. To dry them rapidly because of a small supply, they built a convex parabola out of clear plastic. This would concentrate the sun’s rays inside a small building which became similar to a greenhouse with a temperature of 130°F., basically creating a solar dryer. This small village can be an inspiration to many other villages in the developing countries.

With a combination of a population explosion of human mankind along with greed, we have found many ways to destroy the planet earth that was provided to us. We now must continue to develop ways that we can protect the earth while providing the needs of all living beings. Expanding our understanding and research of biomimicry may be a great way to help improve our environment.

At the start of 2022, it seems appropriate to remind us all of the Church’s position on the sacredness of God’s creation and of our moral duties as Image of God, to care for and facilitate its flourishing. I have selected four sections from the Church’s Social Ethos document, which remind us not only that any form of abuse of Gods creation is a sin but also, that we are to extend our love and compassion to God’s other animals, for they too will be in the restored Kingdom of God. Bold type is used for emphasis. The full document is presented on the main menu.

§75 The Church understands that this world, as God’s creation, is a sacred mystery whose depths reach down into the eternal counsels of its maker; and this in and of itself precludes any of the arrogance of mastery on the part of human beings. Indeed, exploitation of the world’s resources should always be recognized as an expression of Adam’s “original sin” rather than as a proper way of receiving God’s wonderful gift in creation. Such exploitation is the result of selfishness and greed, which arise from humanity’s alienation from God, and from humanity’s consequent loss of a rightly ordered relationship with the rest of nature. Thus, as we have repeatedly stressed, every act of exploitation, pollution, and misuse of God’s creation must be recognized as sin. The Apostle Paul describes creation as “groaning in pain along with us from the beginning till now” (Romans 8:22), while “awaiting with eager longing” (Romans 8:19) “the glorious liberation by the children of God” (Romans 8:21). The effects of sin and of our alienation from God are not only personal and social, but also ecological and even cosmic. Hence, our ecological crisis must be seen not merely as an ethical dilemma; it is an ontological and theological issue that demands a radical change of mind and a new way of being. And this must entail altering our habits not only as individuals, but as a species. For instance, our often heedless consumption of natural resources and our wanton use of fossil fuels have induced increasingly catastrophic processes of climate change and global warming. Therefore, our pursuit of alternative sources of energy and our efforts to reduce our impact on the planet as much as possible are now necessary expressions of our vocation to transfigure the world.

§76 None of us exists in isolation from the whole of humanity, or from the totality of creation. We are dependent creatures, creatures ever in communion, and hence we are also morally responsible not only for ourselves or for those whom we immediately influence or affect, but for the whole of the created order—the whole city of the cosmos, so to speak. In our own time, especially, we must understand that serving our neighbor and preserving the natural environment are intimately and inseparably connected. There is a close and indissoluble bond between our care of creation and our service to the body of Christ, just as there is between the economic conditions of the poor and the ecological conditions of the planet. Scientists tell us that those most egregiously harmed by the current ecological crisis will continue to be those who have the least. This means that the issue of climate change is also an issue of social welfare and social justice. The Church calls, therefore, upon the governments of the world to seek ways of advancing the environmental sciences, through education and state subventions for research, and to be willing to fund technologies that might serve to reverse the dire effects of carbon emissions, pollution, and all forms of environmental degradation.

§77 We must also recall, moreover, that human beings are part of the intricate and delicate web of creation, and that their welfare cannot be isolated from the welfare of the whole natural world. As St. Maximus the Confessor argued, in Christ all the dimensions of humanity’s alienation from its proper nature are overcome, including its alienation from the rest of the physical cosmos; and Christ came in part to restore to material creation its original nature as God’s earthly paradise.[59] Our reconciliation with God, therefore, must necessarily express itself also in our reconciliation with nature, including our reconciliation with animals. It is no coincidence that the creation narrative of Genesis describes the making of animal life and the making of humanity as occurring on the same day (Genesis 1:24–31). Nor should it be forgotten that, according to the story of the Great Flood, Noah’s covenant with God encompasses the animals in the ark and all their descendants, in perpetuity (Genesis 9:9–11). The unique grandeur of humanity in this world, the image of God within each person, is also a unique responsibility and ministry, a priesthood in service to the whole of creation in its anxious longing for God’s glory. Humanity shares the earth with all other living things, but singularly among living creatures possesses the ability and authority to care for it (or, sadly, to destroy it). The animals that fill the world are testament to the bounty of God’s creative love, its variety and richness; and all the beasts of the natural order are enfolded in God’s love; not even a single sparrow falls without God seeing (Matthew 10:29). Moreover, animals by their very innocence remind us of the paradise that human sin has squandered, and their capacity for blameless suffering reminds us of the cosmic cataclysm induced by humanity’s alienation from God. We must recall also that all the promises of scripture regarding the age that is to come concern not merely the spiritual destiny of humanity, but the future of a redeemed cosmos, in which plant and animal life are plentifully present, renewed in a condition of cosmic harmony.

§78 Thus, in the lives of the saints, there are numerous stories about wild beasts, of the kind that would normally be horrifying or hostile to human beings, drawn to the kindness of holy men and women. In the seventh century, Abba Isaac of Nineveh defined a merciful heart as “a heart burning for the sake of the entire creation, for people, for birds, for animals . . . and for every created thing.”[60] This is a consistent theme in the witness of the saints. St. Gerasimos healed a wounded lion near the Jordan River; St. Hubertus, having received a vision of Christ while hunting deer, proclaimed an ethic of conservation for hunters; St. Columbanus befriended wolves, bears, birds, and rabbits; St. Sergius tamed a wild bear; St. Seraphim of Sarov fed the wild animals; St. Mary of Egypt may well have befriended the lion that guarded her remains; St. Innocent healed a wounded eagle; St. Melangell was known for her protection of wild rabbits and the taming of their predators; in the modern period, St. Paisios lived in harmony with snakes. And not only animals, but plants as well, must be objects of our love. St. Kosmas the Aetolian preached that “people will remain poor, because they have no love for trees”[61] and St. Amphilochios of Patmos asked, “Do you know that God gave us one more commandment that is not recorded in scripture? It is the commandment to love the trees.” The ascetic ethos and the Eucharistic spirit of the Orthodox Church perfectly coincide in this great sacramental vision of creation, which discerns the traces of God’s presence “everywhere present and filling all things” (Prayer to the Holy Spirit) even in a world still as yet languishing in bondage to sin and death. It is a vision, moreover, that perceives human beings as bound to all of creation, as well as one that encourages them to rejoice in the goodness and beauty of the whole world. This ethos and this spirit together remind us that gratitude and wonder, hope and joy, are our only appropriate—indeed, our truly creative and fruitful—attitude in the face of the ecological crisis now confronting the planet, because they alone can give us the willingness and the resolve to serve the good of creation as unremittingly as we must, out of love for it and its creator.

“Brother concelebrants and blessed children,

Having once again arrived at the splendid feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Savior Christ, who visited us from the heights, we glorify with psalms and hymns His all-heavenly name. The Incarnation of the pre-eternal Word of God is “the crowning of our salvation,” the “eternal mystery” of divine-human communion that transcends all reason. As St. Maximus the Confessor says so eloquently, “as a loving God, He truly became human assuming the essence of humankind, although the manner in which He became human will always remain ineffable; He became human in a manner that transcends humanity.”

The divine Incarnation, along with the manifestation of the truth about God also reveals the truth and ultimate destination of man, our deification by grace. St. Nicholas Cabasilas proclaims so theologically that Christ “is the first and only One to show us the true and perfect man.”

Since that time, anyone who honors God must also honor man, and whoever undermines man also dishonors God, who assumed our nature. In Christ, speaking theologically about God we speak at the same time about man. The incarnate Divine Economy definitively abolishes the image of God as tyrannical, punitive, and adversary to man. Christ is everywhere, always and in all things the denial of the denial of man and the defender of human freedom. The life of the Church, as the flesh assumed by the incarnate Son and Word of God, represents, expresses and serves this all-saving mystery of divine-humanity.

With this “other fashioning” of man and renewal of all creation in Christ as its banner, the Church today offers the good witness before every development that threatens the sacredness of the human person and the integrity of creation. It lives and preaches the truth of authentic spiritual life and the culture of love and solidarity. Offering testimony “about the hope that lies within us” (1 Pet 3.15), the Church does not in any way regard contemporary civilization as another sinful Nineveh by invoking like Jonah the divine wrath on it and its abolition, but rather the Church struggles for the culture’s transformation in Christ. In our age we need pastoral imagination, dialogue and not argumentation, participation and not abstention, specific deeds and not abstract theory, creative reception and not general rejection. All these do not function at the expense of our spirituality and liturgical life, but reveal the inviolable unity of what we call the “vertical” and “horizontal” dimensions of the Church’s presence and witness. Faithfulness to the tradition of the Church is not entrapment to the past, but employment of the experience of the past in a creative way for the present.

In this past year, too, the pandemic of the Covid-19 coronavirus has troubled humankind. We give glory to the God of mercy, who strengthened the specialists and scientists to develop effective vaccines and other medications in order to confront this crisis, and we encourage all faithful who have yet to be vaccinated to do so and everyone to adhere to the protective measures by the health authorities. Science, to the extent that operates as a minister of man, is a priceless gift by God. We must gratefully accept this gift and not be misled by irresponsible voices of ignorant and self-proclaimed as representatives of God and of the authentic faith “spiritual advisors,” who, nevertheless, lamentably invalidate themselves through the absence of love for their brethren, whose lives they expose to grave danger.

Most honorable brothers and dearly beloved children,

With unshakable conviction that the life of each of us and the journey of all humanity is directed by the God of wisdom and love, we look forward to a happy 2022, which despite external factors and developments will be for everyone a year of salvation, inasmuch as during its course as well, the movement of history is guided by Christ, who loves mankind and cares for all things, “who desires that all people will be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.” (1 Tm 2.4)
With God’s will, during the upcoming Holy and Great Week, we shall hold the service of the Blessing of the Holy Chrism in our venerable Center. We regard it as a uniquely divine gift to our Modesty that we shall be deemed worthy to preside over this festive and moving rite for the fourth time in our humble Patriarchal ministry. Glory to God for all things!

With these sentiments, respectfully worshiping the child Jesus born in Bethlehem, we orient our thought to our Christian brothers there and we pray for the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of all those residing in the Holy Land.

In this spirit, we wish to all of you, those near and afar, a blessed Twelvetide, as well as a healthy, fruitful in good deeds and filled with divine gifts new year in the Lord’s favor, to Whom belong the glory and might to the endless ages. Amen.

Christmas 2021

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU

A great man, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, died this morning. Back in the early nineties, I had the immense pleasure of accepting an invitation from Prof. Rev. Andrew Linzey to hear the Archbishop speak. A tiny man in stature yet dwarfing all of us in that auditorium in his compassion and love for humanity. Essentially his message was this – ‘they took everything from us, but they could not take away our bibles and that was our greatest weapon.’

I was not a Christian at the time, but I have often reflected that this was the first time that I became conscious of a spiritual awaking in my own life. I had been active in denouncing apartheidism and eschewed all things South African in my personal commitment to stop its spread; much the same as I do now with Chinese goods and the genocide taking place against the Uyghurs. This was the same method of separation that I had taken 15 years earlier, from the meat producing industry and its inherent cruelty to animals.

Many of you will know the Archbishop’s work for the suffering black Africans but few if any of you will know that he also linked the evil inherent in that suffering with the suffering of animals. I shall therefore reproduce part of his Foreword to Prof Linsey’s book The Global Guide to Animal Protection, to enlighten you on his thoughts on animal suffering and its inherent injustice.

Extending Justice and Compassion.

‘I have spent my life fighting discrimination and injustice, whether the victims are blacks, women, or gays and lesbians. No human being should be the target of prejudice or the object of vilification or be denied his or her basic rights. I could not have lived with myself, as a Christian and a bishop, if I had looked the other way. But the business of fighting injustice is like fighting a multiheaded hydra. As one form of injustice appears to be vanquished, another takes its place. Even if the path of progress seems interminably long, we can content ourselves with the sense that injustices to other human beings are at least on the agenda, or mostly so.

But there are other issues of justice – not only for human beings but also for the world’s other sentient creatures. The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda. It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked. I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless of vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a high authority. Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interest and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged.

Religious traditions do not, by and large, have a good record on animals. It has taken Christian churches some nineteen hundred years to recognize the immorality of slavery and even longer to recognize that women should not be treated as second-class citizens. Animals have invariably occupied a rather low, sometimes nonexistent place on the moral agenda of the churches. But things are now, slowly but surely, beginning to change…increasing numbers of people are gradually beginning to adopt more thoughtful and compassionate attitudes towards animals.

In many ways, it is odd that my fellow Christians have failed to see the issue of how we treat animals as a Gospel issue. After all, animals are also God’s creatures. Christians believe that the world is God’s creation. It is a kind of theological folly to suppose that God has made the entire world just for human beings, or to suppose that God is interested in only one of the millions of species that inhabit God’s good earth. Our dominion over animals is not supposed to be despotism. We are made in the Image of God, yes, but God – in whose image we are made – is holy, loving and just. We do not honor God by abusing other sentient creatures.

If it is true that we are the most exalted species in creations, it is equally true that we can be the most debased and sinful. This realization should give us pause. So much of our maltreatment of animals stems from a kind of spiritual blindness, a kind of hubris, in which we foolishly suppose that our own welfare is God’s sole concern. In fact, God’s creation is entrusted to our care and under our protection. There is something Christ-like about caring for suffering creatures, whether they are humans or animals.

Even when faced with urgent human problems we should not overlook the issue of justice to animals. In fact, as increasing amount of evidence shows that there is a link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to weaker human beings…All of us have an interest in the creation of a cruelty-free world. Churches should lead the way by making clear that all cruelty – to other animals as well as human beings – is an affront to civilized living and a sin before God…’

The world has lost a great man today. A man totally devoted to speaking the truth to power, no matter how that power is represented. The world and its inhabitants cannot afford to lose such people. My own work offers similar arguments to that above, and I am deeply saddened at his passing.

Dr. Christina Nellist.

Each person is morally obliged to refrain from pollution and destruction of the environment. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

As Orthodox Christians we are called by Scripture, the saints and fathers, and our patriarchs speaking in one voice, to live in harmony with God’s creation. This will bring an intentionally Christian character to our lives. This also helps us extend the life of the Church into the life of the world.

The First Steps into Parish Ecological Practice
The following guidelines introduce Orthodox creation care principles and practice. These principles can be woven into sermons and parish talks so that an education takes place on the rationale for Orthodox ecological practice. This list is only a beginning. As a simple code of words, seek to “share, care, spare and repair” the materials of creation. Ecological action is a doorway for building a whole Orthodox way of life.

To sustain these goals, strive for an equally important set of spiritual principles. These include a vision of Christ in all things; thankfulness; earth stewardship; regular prayer, simplicity, cleanliness and contentment; practice of the virtues; seeking the beauty of the Lord; respect for creation; and theosis.

1. Extend Christian attitudes

We as Image are to love and care for all of God’s creation. Teach the Orthodox vision of Christ everywhere present in creation. Help parish members recall that we are continually dealing with the veiled presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in creation. Acknowledge God by respecting His Creation. Key themes are: renew, reuse, restore and replenish.

2. Restore the Earth.

Plant trees and wild gardens/meadows to enable the flourishing of creation.

3. Show kindness and compassion

Show kindness and compassion to all of God’s creatures. Ensure your parishioners, friends and family understand that God cares for all of His creatures.

4. Recycle all wastes
In Genesis, we are commanded by God to replenish the earth (Gen.1:28, KJV). Eliminate as many non-recyclable materials as possible. Use glass and china rather than plastic and Styrofoam cups, plates and cutlery.

5. Eliminate trash and excess
As much as possible minimize the purchase of items with excess packaging and things designed to be thrown away after use. Whenever possible, pick up rubbish and litter.

6. Buy green products
Purchase sustainable materials. Do not buy items that expose others to harmful
chemicals. Buy carefully and with an awakened conscience.

7. Serve clean foods
Avoid pesticide-laden foods – organic is best. Eat local, high welfare food and where possible, begin to increase your plant-based food. Eliminate junk food. Do not consume fish contaminated by mercury.

8. Remove incandescent light fixtures and bulbs
The excess use of electricity results in pollution and contributes to air pollution and serious harm to neighbors. As much as possible, use less polluting, lower cost lighting options.

9. Reduce energy use
When possible, use renewable sources of energy. We are to live within the limits of creation and refrain from doing harm. Refrain from the excess use of fossil fuels.

10. Respect drinking water
Drink clean water. Avoid bottled water which is often no better than tap water. To ensure clean water, purchase a water filter and serve clean water in glass pitchers. Never pour pollutants down the drain or into water-ways.

11. Minimize possessions Own less, use less, and enjoy life more. Buy what you need not what you want.

12. Study the Issues
For a larger listing of how to “green” your parish, look at the Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration website: https://www.orth-transfiguration.org