Bold on Climate, Silent on Abuse: Abuse Survivors and Advocates Call Out Templeton Foundation for Recognition of Ecumenical Patriarch

How does the 2025 Templeton Prize for Bartholomew I impact the Foundation’s credibility amid concerns over his silence on clergy sexual abuse?

The Templeton Foundation awarded its 2025 Prize to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (Dimitrios Archontonis) in spite of the Patriarch’s silence on clergy sexual abuse in Orthodoxy, a group of survivors and advocates say.

In individual letters sent to the foundation over the past six months, members of the group acknowledged that the P…