Praise for 'green' Patriarch
Washington (ANA-MPA / A. Ellis) -- The personality and global role played by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew were praised by the US House of Representatives with a resolution adopted on the occasion of his formal visit to the United States launched on Oct. 20, and his imminent visit to the US capital on Nov. 2-5.
The resolution adopted with 424 votes in favour and none against (the US House has 435 members) recognized the importance of the Ecumenical Patriarch's role in the efforts for peace, religious issues and the environment, and encouraged United States foreign policy makers to continue to urge Turkey to grant religious freedom and property rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The resolution was put together by Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, and was signed by other 50 US House Reps before being submitted for approval.
The US House welcomes to the United States "the spiritual leader of nearly 300,000,000 Orthodox Christians around the world and millions of Orthodox Christians in the United States," the "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". It is also stressed that that the "Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the spiritual home of the world's oldest and second largest Christian church in the world".
It is pointed out that "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". It is pointed out that he was "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".
The resolution also points out that the Ecumenical Patriarch 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," underlining that his efforts earned him the title 'the Green Patriarch'.
