IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 838 

Welcoming to the United States and to Washington, DC, His All Holiness 

Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch on his upcoming trip on October 20, 2009, through November 

6, 2009. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2009 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. TSONGAS, 

Ms. TITUS, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. SPACE, and Mr. GALLEGLY) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Welcoming to the United States and to Washington, DC, 

His All Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch on his upcoming 

trip on October 20, 2009, through November 6, 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 church headquartered in the Muslim 

world and convener of an ecumenical meeting which proVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:23 Oct 16, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR838.IH HR838

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•HRES 838 IH 

duced the first condemnation by Muslim leaders of the 9/ 

11 attack on the United States as an anti-religious act; 

Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of 

the world’s oldest and second largest Christian church located in Istanbul, Turkey; 

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, a 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 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s gold medal 

legislation received the highest number of members of the 

United States House of Representatives cosponsoring as 

any on record in the Congress or at the Library of Congress; 

Whereas His All Holiness was the second living person in 

United States history allowed to be honored in the 

United States Capitol Rotunda as a recipient of the Congressional gold medal, the highest Congressional honor 

given to individuals like George Washington, Pope John 

Paul IV, and Winston Churchill, among others; 


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•HRES 838 IH 

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 IV, 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 and also the internationally recognized Binding Institute of Liechtenstein; 

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 symposiums of international environmental leaders on 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 HoVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:23 Oct 16, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR838.IH HR838

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liness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the pioneer of 

this movement; 

Whereas patrons of past symposia have included Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Jacques Santer and Romano 

Prodi, Presidents of the European Commission, and 

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan; 

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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) welcomes to the United States and to Wash3 ington, DC, His All Holiness Bartholomew, Arch4 bishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical 

5 Patriarch, and recognizes the importance to the 

6 United States and the world of the Ecumenical Pa7 triarch’s recent environmental seminar conducted on 

8 the Mississippi River with some of the world’s lead9 ing environment experts; 


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•HRES 838 IH 

1 (2) recognizes the importance to the United 

2 States and to the world of Ecumenical Patriarch 

3 Bartholomew’s leadership on matters of environ4 ment, peace, and religion, and encourages United 

5 States foreign policy makers to continue to urge 

6 Turkey to grant religious freedom and property 

7 rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as to 

8 reopen the theological school at Halki; and 

9 (3) offers whatever support the United States 

10 can give to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s 

11 noble efforts for the betterment of human kind. 

Æ 


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