His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Award of Doctorate Honoris Causa to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
The Technical University of Crete had the honour to confer a Doctorate Honoris Causa to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in recognition of his diverse social, humanitarian, environmental and spiritual work.
The ceremony took place on Tuesday September 4, 2012 at noon at the Park for the Preservation of Flora & Fauna of the Technical University of Crete.
In his laudatory address, TUC Rector Yannis Phillis mentioned, among other things, that:
"We need a change in course, by turning back to elementary but fundamental values, by respecting our fellow man and human diversity and by signing peace with the environment -human, natural and biological. These are the principles by which His All Holiness abides and for which he works."
"When these words are forgotten, when this ceremony is forgotten, one thing shall remain unchanged, sheding a light on us: the work of a man devoted to man; it is this work that we honour today by conferring the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to His All Holiness. How we live our lives is, to a large extent, our own choice. His All Holiness has made his own choices, and we know that these choices have often been hard, very hard indeed. This is the fate of men who help sustain hope in society and show the path to those who are willing to follow."
During his acceptance speech, His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch praised the work carried out by the Technical University of Crete, and at the same time underlined the importance of the protection of the environment.
More specifically, His All Holiness the Primate of the Orthodox Church referred to the efforts made by the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the protection of the environment and underlined the need for the protection of the environment through the use of new technologies and science, without breaking the laws of God or nature. «The law of God is not opposed to technological knowledge and development but to their unethical use” he said. He also emphasized the need to make universal efforts for a better environment. “We hope that the desire for a better environment will become more universal and will result in a scientific proposal and a legislative mandate. Naturally, these efforts will reduce certain exaggerations of deep ecology so that the demand for the protection of the environment will have reasonable and practically applicable limits, and the intervention to the natural environment does not become an obstacle in man’s life on earth”.
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