NEW YORK, NY – GNUSA [Photos: John Mindala / Archons & Press Office of Prime Minister of Greece]
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Templeton Prize at a ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York City on September 24, “for 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”.
Over 300 guests attended the ceremony in David Geffen Hall, including previous Templeton Prize laureates Dr. Jane Goodall (2021) and Professor Paul Davies (1995), former Vice President Al Gore, and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The Ecumenical Patriarch accepted the honor on behalf of his predecessor, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, “whose prophetic voice first called our Church to embrace its role as guardian of creation in 1989”.
The ceremony
Leigh Cameron, Chair of the Board of the John Templeton Foundation and a Templeton family member, welcomed the audience.
The ceremony commenced with a solemn procession set to the Kontakion of the Annunciation, a Byzantine chant beautifully performed by the vocal ensemble Cappella Romana.
Heather Templeton Dill, former President of the John Templeton Foundation and granddaughter of Sir John Templeton, offered a heartfelt introduction to the Templeton Prize, emphasizing the shared curiosity and spiritual depth of its laureates. She praised Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the first Orthodox cleric to receive the Prize, as a visionary leader whose environmental advocacy bridges science and faith and underlined his long-standing view that ecological care is “primarily a spiritual issue,” central to humanity’s moral responsibility. Concluding her welcoming address, Dill quoted His All-Holiness’s 2009 speech at the Brookings Institution, echoing his message of hope: ‘It is not too late. God’s world has incredible healing powers. Within a single generation, we could steer the earth toward our children’s future’.”
A seven-minute video titled Stewards of Creation was then shown, highlighting the Patriarch’s life and his lasting dedication to environmental stewardship.
Dr. Jane Goodall, the acclaimed primatologist and conservationist, joined former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in offering congratulatory remarks.
The Prize
Heather Templeton Dill, joined by Leigh Cameron, went on to place the symbolic Tree of Life medallion around the Patriarch’s neck as the audience erupted in jubilant cries of “Axios!” Dill then presented him with a ceremonial scroll, adorned with symbols of his life and legacy: his native island of Imvros; the mountain that nurtured his reverence for nature; the official seal of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George at the Phanar.
His All – Holiness
In his acceptance address, titled “Where Heaven Meets Earth: A Meditation on Faith, Science, and Our Planet”, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew called for a renewed harmony between scientific rigor and spiritual insight.
“When I see a physicist measuring the acceleration of melting glaciers in the Arctic and a theologian contemplating the groans of creation (Romans 8.22–23), I see two people reading the same book—the book of nature and the book of scripture—in different languages. When I witness a climate scientist’s agony over dying forests and hear the prophet lament that “the earth is utterly torn and violently shaken” (Isaiah 24.19), I recognize the same broken heart beating in both. The disassociation between faith and science must end. They are both on the same page”, remarked His All-Holiness.
“We seem to have lost the sacred rhythm of natural time. In religious terminology, this is precisely what the power of prayer entails. Our ancestors understood something we have forgotten: namely, that meaningful growth requires patience, that depth demands duration”, the Patriarch added, emphasizing the need to rediscover “what the Greek philosophers called metron—proper measure, the wonderful sense of proportion that allows both human flourishing and ecological balance”.
And His All – Holiness continued: “It is about choosing quality over quantity, durability over disposability, sufficiency over excess and waste. Such discipline ultimately becomes not burden but liberation—freedom from the exhausting treadmill of endless wanting, space to discover the deeper satisfactions that no amount of earthly consumption can provide”.
In a stirring conclusion to his address, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a heartfelt call to action. “The future of our planet depends on our capacity to bring together the precision of scientific method with the perception of spiritual vision, the urgency of prophetic witness with the patience of contemplative practice”, he declared.
“May we find the courage to speak truth to power and the wisdom to speak love to fear. May we discover that caring for creation is not a burden but a gift… The earth is groaning, but it is also hoping. The question is whether we will join its song of grief or its chorus of gratitude”.
With this award, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew joins a distinguished group of laureates including Mother Teresa (1973), the Dalai Lama (2012), King Abdullah of Jordan (2018), and Dr. Jane Goodall (2021).
