Welcoming Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States.

His first visit since 2021, he joins us on his eighth Apostolic trip to our country during which he will receive the prestigious Templeton Prize for his environmental advocacy.

The ``Green Patriarch's'' landmark 1997 speech in Santa Barbara--in which he first posited the notion of ecological sin--is striking for how revolutionary it was then, and how prescient it remains today. In particular, one line from His All-Holliness' remarks 28 years ago struck me as worthy of meditating upon in the tumultuous times in which we find ourselves.

In his speech, His All-Holliness offers the following: ``we lovingly suggest to all the people of the earth, that they seek to help one another to understand the myriad ways in which we are related to the earth, and to one another.

Now, perhaps more than any time in my recollection, that call to engage with one another, identify our commonalities, eschew clinging to our differences, and help--how we can, where we can--feels vital to the moral health of the American people and the long-term viability of our global environment.

On behalf of the Eastern Orthodox Christian community of Southwestern Connecticut, I would like to extend my congratulations to His All- Holiness for his Templeton Prize; it is a well-deserved acknowledgement of his years of advocacy. I hope his trip is a success and that he enjoys his time in the United States.

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