[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   WELCOMING HIS ALL-HOLINESS BARTHOLOMEW I OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO THE 
                             UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JAMIE RASKIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2025

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, this week, the United States Congress and 
our Nation's capital will be honored with a visit from the Ecumenical 
Patriarch of Constantinople, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I. Patriarch 
Bartholomew is not only the denominational leader of 300 million 
Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide--he is a global spiritual leader 
who has advanced the sacred causes of peace, interreligious 
understanding and environmental stewardship.
  Patriarch Bartholomew is stopping in Washington, D.C. on his way to 
New York City to accept the Templeton Prize for his groundbreaking 
harmonization of faith and science in service of environmental 
protection. The Templeton Prize, given to singular champions of human 
dignity and progress such as Mother Teresa and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 
honors people who have harnessed the power of the sciences to explore 
the deepest questions of the universe and humankind's place and purpose 
within it. His All-Holiness Bartholomew has earned this storied honor 
through the same works that gained him the moniker of the ``Green 
Patriarch.'' Since assuming his office in 1991, Patriarch Bartholomew 
has convened leaders across borders and disciplines to redefine human-
caused climate change, environmental destruction and pollution as not 
just practical crises but spiritual and moral failings. He does so 
because of his conviction that ``we are not owners of this planet. It 
belongs to the coming generations as well. We are simply stewards and 
priests of the environment and not proprietors of it.''
  In addition to his environmental stewardship, Patriarch Bartholomew 
finds common cause with Americans in advancing the causes of democracy 
and peace. He assumed the Patriarchate of Constantinople during the 
same year that the Soviet Union dissolved. His leadership was 
instrumental in advancing the spiritual and political self-
determination of the Eastern Orthodox faithful in former Soviet 
republics. Today, he is a steadfast and unflinching moral leader 
supporting the people of Ukraine as they resist Vladimir Putin's bloody 
imperialist invasion and a forceful counterweight to the Moscow 
Patriarchate's Putinist subversion. This is a cause that most Americans 
support, recognizing that the cause of the people of Ukraine and their 
war of self-defense and self-determination is now the cause of all 
humanity.
  During this time of great uncertainty and fear, we Americans would do 
well to learn from Patriarch Bartholomew's example. Over the past 36 
years, Patriarch Bartholomew has sought to build relationships across 
faith traditions, cultures and borders. In 1997, Patriarch Bartholomew 
was the first Eastern Orthodox Patriarch to denounce the great horror 
and evil of the Holocaust. He has traveled to Muslim-majority countries 
to foster interreligious understanding. And he has taken great care to 
cultivate relationships with Roman Catholic Popes and leaders across 
the world. These examples of moral and spiritual bridge-building are 
essential to our own democratic and human progress as a multi-
religious, pluralist democracy.
  Twenty-eight years ago, the U.S. Congress recognized Patriarch 
Bartholomew with the Congressional Gold Medal for his extraordinary and 
courageous leadership. Today, on behalf of my constituents in 
Maryland's beautiful 8th District, I welcome Patriarch Bartholomew back 
to our Nation's Capital and congratulate him on earning the Templeton 
Prize as the latest of many well-deserved honors.

                          ____________________