Welcoming His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend a warm welcome to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

As the spiritual leader of the second-largest Christian Church in the world, His All-Holiness carries a message of peace, reconciliation, and interfaith dialogue that resonates deeply across all faith traditions. His enduring commitment to religious freedom, environmental stewardship, and global unity has earned him recognition as a moral voice not only for Orthodox Christians but for people of all faiths.

Many of my constituents in the Greek Orthodox community, and Orthodox Christians across the United States, look forward to his visit to Washington, D.C. with great pride and reverence. They view his presence here as an opportunity to celebrate the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of Orthodox Christianity and to reaffirm the strong bonds between the United States and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

It is my honor to welcome His All-Holiness to our Nation's capital and to recognize his tireless efforts in promoting peace, human dignity, and spiritual leadership across the globe.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this important visit and in celebrating the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source