The John Templeton Foundation, in collaboration with the Templeton World Charity Foundation and the Templeton Religion Trust, announced today, Thursday, April 10, 2025, that the recipient of the 2025 Templeton Prize is His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

His All-Holiness is the longest-serving Head of the Apostolic Throne of Constantinople and is “widely recognized,” as noted in the Templeton Foundation’s announcement, for his “innovative efforts to bridge the scientific and spiritual perspectives on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, motivating people of different faiths to become stewards of creation.”

Patriarch Bartholomew’s reputation for his pioneering contributions to ecological, interfaith, and peace-building actions around the world is well established. These include the symposia “Religion, Science, and the Environment” held from the Amazon to the Arctic Sea, numerous ecumenical and interfaith initiatives within and beyond the Abrahamic traditions, and his sincere and courageous stance on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and peace in the country.

On the occasion of the announcement of the prestigious award, His All-Holiness made the following statement: “We accept with gratitude and humility this unique recognition, which reflects the philanthropic vision of Sir John Templeton, the exceptional founder of a global initiative investing in the human spirit and the ability of the human person to understand and harness the power of the Spirit. This honor is not only for our humble person but also for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Apostolic See of St. Andrew the First-Called. For seventeen centuries, this Church of the Saints and Martyrs, of the Confessors and Theologians, has led the spiritual mission of teaching and spreading the transformative Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world. We accept this unique honor in the name of this ministry to God and humanity.”

About the Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize was first awarded to Mother Teresa in 1973 and has since been given to spiritual leaders such as Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as visionaries such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, King Abdullah of Jordan, distinguished ecologist Jane Goodall, and leading scientists and peacemakers from around the world. The Ecumenical Patriarch will receive the award in New York in September 2025.

This marks the second major recognition and honor for His All-Holiness in a short period of time. It is noteworthy that on March 17, 2025, the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Institute of France elected the Ecumenical Patriarch as a “foreign associate” to the seat previously held by the late Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger).