CONSTANTINOPLE – His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in a letter-greeting for the presentation of the book by former Minister Dimitris Stratoulis, noted that he favors organ donation. The Patriarch wrote among other things that organ donation “saves lives and is an expression and act of solidarity.”

He also praises every effort that is made to raise public awareness on this major issue of transplants while also responding indirectly to circles within the Church that oppose organ donation.

The Patriarch emphasized that “scientific research is a God-given gift to man” and pointed out that “the Church cannot and will not remain on the sidelines of discussing modern developments and great anthropological and moral issues,” restating the positions of the Pan-Orthodox Synod of Crete.

The basis on which the Church and the Orthodox tradition move, Patriarch Bartholomew recalls, is “unhypocritical and sacrificial love” but also “the transcendence of our individual right for the sake of our neighbor, our brother.”