Ecumenical Patriarch issues statement on water
April 09, 2015
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, recently issued a statement on the “human right to water and sanitation.”
“Water is a fundamental human right, which must be accessible to all people regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other aspect of discrimination,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said in his statement.
“How can we – as rational and responsible people – allow over a quarter of the world’s population not to have access to safe drinking water, while almost half of the world’s population faces the indignity of inadequate sanitation?” he asked.
“Greed under the disguise of growth insults the image of God in our fellow human beings,” he added. “We implore large corporations and businesses to seek alternative means of production, which do not pollute or harm our planet’s resources for the sake of mere profit. And we pray for world peace, particularly in the Middle East, where water is employed as a weapon of persecution and destruction.”
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