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 reli-
gious 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 Ecu-
menical 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;
•HRES 838 EH 
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received on his 
first official visit to the United States in 1997, the Con-
gressional 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 lead-
ers;
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 Con-
gressional 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 Wash-
ington, 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 great-
er religious understanding by initiating a joint declara-
tion 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;
•HRES 838 EH 
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is called ‘‘the 
Green Patriarch’’ by leaders of the international environ-
mental 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 environ-
mental projects; 
Whereas 
Ecumenical 
Patriarch 
Bartholomew 
has 
led
symposia of international environmental leaders regard-
ing 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 Ho-
liness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who originally 
conceived the movement in 1988 at a meeting of environ-
mental and religious leaders for the purpose of estab-
lishing common ground on environmental issues between 
representatives of faith communities, scientists, and envi-
ronmental nongovernmental organizations; 
Whereas patrons of past symposia have included Prince Phil-
ip, Duke of Edinburgh; Jacques Santer and Romano 
Prodi, former Presidents of the European Commission; 
and Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-Gen-
eral;
Whereas the symposia have also reached out across different 
faiths and denominations, revealing the wisdom of diverse
•HRES 838 EH 
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 Pa-
triarch 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 Wash-
ington, 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 environ-
mental 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 reli-
gion, and encourages United States foreign policy mak-
ers to continue to urge Turkey to grant religious free-
dom and property rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate 
as well as to reopen the theological school at Halki; and
•HRES 838 EH 
(3) expresses its support for Ecumenical Patriarch 
Bartholomew’s noble efforts for the betterment of
humankind. 
Attest: 
Clerk.