Orthodox Leader Deepens Progressive Stance on Environment

  MARLISE SIMONS  - 4/12/2012 At a conference near Istanbul last June, the chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall spoke about the endangered habitat of what she called “our closest relatives.” Underlining the evolutionary link, she described her encounter with a senior male ape who had a “beautiful white beard.” With a smile, she turned to the 72-year-old man in the front row and added, “Very much like yours.” The man with the long white beard was Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians. Fortunately, he is known for his easy, affable manner, and he joined the laughter that followed. But his commitment to environmental activism is deeply serious, earning him the nickname the Green Patriarch