[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     WELCOMING ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. KATHERINE M. CLARK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 10, 2025

  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to warmly 
welcome the spiritual head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, His All-
Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to Washington, D.C.
  The longest-serving Archbishop of Constantinople in the history of 
Christianity, the Ecumenical Patriarch will arrive in the United States 
this month to receive the distinguished Templeton Prize. This 
prestigious award will be presented in recognition of his ``pioneering 
efforts to bridge scientific and spiritual understandings of humanity's 
relationship with the natural world, bringing together people of 
different faiths to heed a call for stewardship of creation.''
  Guiding the world's 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians since his 
election in 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been a powerful 
voice for our common responsibilities to one another--our shared 
obligation to defend the freedom, dignity, and wellbeing of our 
neighbors and of future generations.
  I am especially grateful for the impact his leadership has had on 
Orthodox Christians across the United States, particularly the more 
than 600 families at St. Demetrios Church in Weston, Massachusetts. For 
decades, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has had the deepest respect 
of the American people and of this institution--an abiding admiration 
reflected in Congress' decision to award him the Congressional Gold 
Medal in 1997.
  Today, the Ecumenical Patriarch continues to bring together people of 
all faiths in the pursuit of peace, mutual respect, and a future more 
worthy of our children. I join my colleagues in commending his 
invaluable work, and I proudly join my Orthodox constituents in 
welcoming him back to the United States.

                          ____________________