Francis’ ideas owe much to the work of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who has issued an annual encyclical on the environment for many years One of the more surprising aspects of Laudato si’ is its connection to Eastern Orthodoxy. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual head of 300 million Eastern Orthodox and “first among equals” of Orthodox bishops, is acknowledged at the beginning of the encyclical as a pioneer in environmental issues and a central inspiration (§§7-9). At the encyclical press conference, Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon provided an Orthodox interpretation of its witness. Zizioulas, a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and leading theologian who has taught at Edinburgh, Glasgow and