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

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 produced 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;
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 Holiness 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
    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) offers whatever support the United States can give to 
        Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's noble efforts for the 
        betterment of human kind.
                                 <all>
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