Orthodox patriarch emphasizes conservation

Athens, Greece — He has cast flower wreaths onto the oil-fouled Danube River. He’s warned that the Black Sea is teetering on ecological collapse.

After touring pollution hotspots along the Adriatic coast, he has joined Pope John Paul II in proclaiming a “moral and spiritual” duty to protect the environment.

And Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million Orthodox Christians, has gone even further. Years ago, he declared that harming the environment is a sin, and he has been pushing religious leaders and believers to make conservation an integral part of faith ever since.

The so-called “green patriarch” is bringing his message next to the Baltic Sea, with its shores that touch eco-sensitive Scandinavia and toxin-spewing factories in the former East Bloc.

Bartholomew’s journey, which begins Saturday in Poland, is his fifth mission since 1995 aimed at uniting clerics, scholars, activists and politicians under the banner of ecological interests.

His efforts and those of other religious leaders could be potentially pivotal in shaping doctrine and ethics surrounding the environment, theologians and others say.

Auditors to check abuse policies in every diocese

Washington — A watchdog lay panel appointed by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops will send auditors to every diocese to see if they are complying with the new sex abuse policy the bishops adopted last year.

The audit will be conducted by the Gavin Group of Boston, a firm run by William Gavin, a former FBI director, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced.

More than 50 auditors were trained last month to conduct the checks in the nation’s 195 dioceses. Operating in teams of two, they will determine whether bishops have formed boards that include lay people to review sex abuse claims, hired victim-assistance coordinators and started education programs meant to protect children from abuse.

New feature answers questions about faith

If you’ve got questions about faith, we’ll try to help find answers.

“Faith Forum,” a new feature in our weekly Faith section, will take your questions about faith issues and pose them to Lawrence-area clergy and theologians. Then we’ll print their responses.

Have you wondered whether 9-11, as some have said, was God’s punishment of a sinful nation? Or about what, exactly, is the soul? Or if you can be a Christian and place bets on the Super Bowl?

Send your questions to Jim Baker at the Lawrence Journal-World, P.O. Box 888, Lawrence, 66044. You may also e-mail to jbaker@ljworld.com or fax to (785) 843-4512.