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His All-Holiness, the longest serving primate of the Apostolic See of Constantinople, is being recognized for, in the words of the Templeton Prize announcement, “his pioneering efforts to bridge scientific and spiritual understandings of humanity’s relationship with the natural world, bringing together people of different faiths to heed a call for stewardship of creation.”
His All-Holiness is well known for groundbreaking engagements in environmental, interreligious, and peace-building efforts around the world.
On the occasion of the announcement of this most prestigious award, His All-Holiness gave the following statement:
“We gratefully and humbly accept this unique recognition, which reflects the philanthropic vision of Sir John Templeton, the exceptional founder of a worldwide enterprise of investment in the human spirit and in the ability for the human person to perceive and harness the capacities of the Spirit. This honour is not only to our humble person, but to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Apostolic See of Saint Andrew the First-Called Disciple. For seventeen centuries, this Church of Saints and Martyrs, Confessors and Theologians, has led the spiritual mission of teaching and preaching the transformational Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the oikoumene. We accept this singular dignity in the name of this history of service to God and the human family.”
The Templeton Foundation commended the Ecumenical Patriarch for using the stature of his office—the highest spiritual authority within the Eastern Orthodox church—to convene groups of scientists, scholars, political leaders, and clerics from the Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim worlds.
“His ‘ecumenical imperative' to care for creation recognizes that science plays a critical role in helping religious leaders accept their responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth,” reads the description from the foundation. “In 1997, he made history by declaring that acts harming the environment—such as pollution, deforestation, and climate change—are not just practical missteps but moral failings.”
The foundation also noted that the Ecumenical Patriarch’s pastoral teaching introduced a new category of sin—“ecological sin”—which has since influenced both religious and secular discourse on environmental ethics.
The Templeton Prize was first awarded to Mother Teresa in 1973, and since that time, has honoured both spiritual leaders such as Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as visionaries such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, King Abdullah of Jordan, the renowned ecologist Jane Goodall, and leading scientists and peacemakers across the globe. The Ecumenical Patriarch will receive the award in New York City in September 2025.
This prize marks the second significant recognition and honour conferred upon His All-Holiness in a short span of time. On 17 March, the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Institut de France elected the Ecumenical Patriarch as a “foreign associate member” to the seat previously held by the late Pope Benedict XVI.
