wfn.org | Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Begins Visit to the U.S.

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW

BEGINS APOSTOLIC AND PATRIARCHAL VISIT TO THE U.S.

NEW ORLEANS ? His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
arrived today in New Orleans, as he begins a 15-day Apostolic and
Patriarchal Visit to the United States.

?We welcome you, Your All Holiness with deep reverence and respect,
total dedication and plenty of love,? said Archbishop Demetrios of
America, welcoming the Ecumenical Patriarch at Louis Armstrong Airport
along with Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, members of the local
clergy, local officials, a small group of Orthodox faithful from this
area and two-dozen children dressed in traditional costume.

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew offered a few words
of greeting and blessing to those who had gathered at the airport and said:

From the Mother Church of Constantinople and the Holy and Great
Church of Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, we bring you greetings
and blessings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We give thanks to Almighty God for granting us a safe arrival here
in New Orleans, a place to which we return with much hope and
expectation. We return after nearly four years, when we came in the
Winter of 2006 to share in the loss and pain of the courageous
citizens of New Orleans and to witness the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

We return to the place where the mighty Mississippi River nears
its course into the Gulf of Mexico, and where the waves of the sea and
the banks of the river overflowed. We return so that we might bear
witness to the hope that is in you, the hope you have manifested
through the rebuilding your lives and your community. We return in
order to pray with you and to intercede with the Lord of creation,
that the ?flood of many waters shall not come nigh unto you again?,
(cf. Psalm 31/32:6).

We return to this historic and famed city, and call on your fellow
citizens around the country to return here for themselves; whether to
live or enjoy the unique offerings of New Orleans.

Finally, we return to New Orleans with the same conviction and
concern that has taken us around the globe, to oceans and seas and
mighty rivers: from the Aegean to the Arctic, from the Black to the
Baltic Seas, from the Danube to Amazon ? and now, to the mighty
Mississippi River. Throughout the previous seven Religion, Science and
Environment Symposia, we have brought together academics and policy
makers, scientists and theologians; so that we might pose questions
and find solutions for the ecological perils of our time.

Here in New Orleans, for the next five days, we shall gather again,
and we thank the RSE Committee for their extraordinary efforts in
bringing this conference to fruition. Our prayer is that during these
days, we shall heighten awareness, strengthen resolve, raise
expectations and explore new hopes.

We stand in solidarity with the people of New Orleans and all
people who seek a better life. And we are present with you to call for
a renewed consciousness for environmental responsibility, and an
awareness of what such a consciousness entails.

We pray that our days among you will be a blessing for you and a
blessing for us, for we come with only words of peace, love and
benediction upon our lips and in our hearts. May God bless the people
here present, and bestow upon all his infinite mercy.

Tomorrow Oct. 21, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will convene and
officially open the Eighth Religion, Science and the Environment (RSE)
Symposium, entitled ?Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi River,?
which takes place here for the next five days under his high patronage
and includes a large and diverse group of theologians, scientists,
policy makers, environmentalists, representatives of business and
NGOs, and media. (More information on the Mississippi symposium:
www.rsesymposia.org <http://www.rsesymposia.org> )

The Patriarchal party includes Metropolitans Athanasios of Chalcedon,
Emmanuel of France, and Ambrosios of Korea, the V. Rev. Archimandrite
Kyrillos Sikis, Deacons Nephon and Neofytos and Spyros Pantazis (youth
representative), Simeon Francelacioglou (Grand Chamberlain), Lakis
Vingas, Nicholas Manginas. Grand Archdeacon Maximos will arrive later.

For more information on the Ecumenical Patriarch and his visit to the
U.S. can be found online at: www.usvisit2009.org  <http://www.usvisit2009.org> .

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