“How we treat the earth and all of creation defines the relationship that each of us has with God….To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin. For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation…for humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the Earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands…for humans to injure others humans with disease…for humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances, these things are sins.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople