Ecumenical Patriarch invited to accompany President Hollande to the Philippines

 From February 26-27, 2015, His All-Holiness accompanied French President François Hollande on his official state visit to the Philippines, together with Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and Rev. Archdeacon John Chryssavgis. One of the primary purposes of the trip by the President of France was the joint signing of a call to action on climate change in light of the journey toward the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Le Bourget in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

On Thursday, February 26, 2015, His All-Holiness addressed the climate change forum held at the National Museum in the Philippine capital Manila. The title of the forum was "Civil Society Mobilized for climate," while the assigned title of the Ecumenical Patriarch's address was "Creation Care, Ecological Justice, and Ethics." The forum served as a preliminary meeting for the international United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) that will take place in Paris later this year. Other speakers included the director general of the WWF (M. Lambertini), journalist and special ambassador of President Hollande for the protection of the planet (N. Hulot), the French minister for environment (S. Royal), French actress and environmentalist Melanie Laurent, the executive director of UNEP (A. Steiner) and the executive secretary of the COP convention (C. Figueres).

On Friday, February 27, 2015, His All-Holiness and the Patriarchal delegation traveled with President Hollande to the town of Guiuan, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in November of 2013. Before departing the Philippines, His All-Holiness also met with Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.

Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate

photo: C. Alix, Présidence de la République