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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 838 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 838

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      October 28, 2009.
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the spiritual leader of nearly 
        300,000,000 Orthodox Christians around the world and millions of 
        Orthodox Christians in the United States;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is head of the largest Christian  
        denomination headquartered in the Muslim world and convener of an 
        ecumenical meeting which produced the first condemnation by Muslim 
        religious leaders of the 9/11 attack on the United States as an anti-
        religious act;
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul, Turkey, is the 
        spiritual home of the world's oldest and second largest Christian 
        church;
Whereas within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the 
        New Testament was codified and the Nicene Creed was created;
Whereas the disappearance of the See would mean the end of a crucial link 
        between the Christian and the Muslim world since the continuing presence 
        of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey is a living testimony of 
        religious co-existence since 1453;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received on his first official visit to 
        the United States in 1997, the Congressional Gold Medal, presented by 
        the United States on behalf of the Congress in recognition of his 
        outstanding and enduring contributions to religious understanding and 
        peace, and was recognized by the United States in a manner reserved for 
        a very small number of world leaders;    
Whereas  the legislation bestowing the Congressional Gold Medal on  Ecumenical 
        Patriarch Bartholomew  had one of the highest numbers of    Members of 
        the United States House of Representatives cosponsoring  it in 
        Congressional history;  
Whereas His All Holiness is one of the few living persons to have been awarded 
        the highest Congressional honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, which has 
        been bestowed only on the most eminent individuals, such as George 
        Washington, Winston Churchill, and Pope John Paul II;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is recognized in the United States and 
        abroad as a leader in the quest for world peace, greater religious 
        understanding, and respect for the Earth's environment;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew was selected by Time Magazine as 
        number 11 among 2008's 100 most influential people in the world;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew enhanced greater religious 
        understanding by initiating a joint declaration that it is man's duty to 
        protect the earth, signed by himself and Pope John Paul  II, the 
        spiritual leaders of nearly 1 out of every 5 people in the world;    
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is called ``the Green Patriarch'' by 
        leaders of the international environmental community;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the prestigious Sophie Prize 
        of Norway for his environmental work;
Whereas the prize money was donated by His All Holiness to UNICEF's fund for 
        destitute children and for environmental projects;
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has led  symposia of international 
        environmental leaders regarding the Adriatic, Aegean, Arctic, Baltic, 
        and Black Seas, as well as the Amazon, Danube, and Mississippi Rivers, 
        and His All Holiness was honored in New York through the Scenic Hudson 
        River Initiative;
Whereas the Religious, Science, and Environmental (RSE) symposia are organized 
        under the auspices of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 
        who originally conceived the movement in 1988 at a meeting of 
        environmental and religious leaders for the purpose of establishing 
        common ground on environmental issues between representatives of faith 
        communities, scientists, and environmental nongovernmental 
        organizations;
Whereas patrons of past symposia have included Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; 
        Jacques Santer and Romano Prodi, former Presidents of the European 
        Commission; and Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General;      

Whereas the symposia have also reached out across different faiths and 
        denominations, revealing the wisdom of diverse theological traditions, 
        as well as a common imperative to protect the natural world;
Whereas during the 2002 Adriatic Sea Symposium, Pope John Paul II and Patriarch 
        Bartholomew signed a joint declaration underlining the spiritual duty of 
        caring for God's creation in the interest of future generations; and
Whereas the outstanding accomplishments of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew have 
        been formally recognized and honored by numerous governmental, academic, 
        and other institutions around the world: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) welcomes to the United States and to Washington, DC, His All 
        Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical 
        Patriarch,    and recognizes the importance to the United States and the 
        world of the Ecumenical Patriarch's recent environmental seminar 
        conducted on the Mississippi River with some of the world's leading 
        environment experts;
            (2) recognizes the importance to the United States and to the world 
        of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's leadership on matters of 
        environment, peace, and religion, and encourages United States foreign 
        policy makers to continue to urge Turkey to grant religious freedom and 
        property rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as to reopen the 
        theological school at Halki; and
            (3) expresses its support for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's 
        noble efforts for the betterment of    humankind.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.
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