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Interreligious Dialogue and Halki on Bush-Patriarch Agenda By
Theodore Kalmoukos
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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios will discuss the issue of interreligious dialogue as a way to face the growing threat of terrorism with President George W. Bush when the two meet in the White House this week. Bartholomaios, who is scheduled to arrive on Monday in the U.S. for his third official visit in four years, is also expected to seek U.S. support for the re-opening of the Theological School of Halki in Turkey. The meeting with the president, which is to last for approximately one half hour, will take place at 3:25 pm on Tuesday. Later that day, the Patriarch will meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell at the State Department. On his last day in Washington, Thursday, before his departure for Boston, Bartholomaios will hold talks with the Roman Catholic Archibishops of Washington and Baltimore, Theodore Cardinal McCarrick and William Cardinal Keeler; Archibishop Gabriel Montalvo, Papal Pro Nuncio and Directors and Officers of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In Massachusetts, the Patriarch will stay at the Hellenic College - Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, where he will meet with the members of the Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of America, and the students and stuff of the school. Bartholomaios will then visit New York, where on Saturday he will offer a memorial prayer at Ground Zero, site of the September 11 tragedy. That evening he will attend the Archons' dinner with the former first couple George and Barbara Bush, who will be awarded with the Athenagoras Human Rights Award. On Sunday, the day of his departure, he will officiate at the Divine Liturgy at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of New York. In a written statement Archbishop Demetrios said: "The invitation of Bredident Bush to His All Holiness is particularly significant as His Holiness has, since the tragedy of September 11th, played a remarkable leadership role in attempting to curb conflicts fought in the name of religion." Last December 19-21, approximately 80 religious leaders representing Christianity, Judaism and Islam participated in an interfaith conference in Brussels, titled "The Peace of God in the World." The event was organized by Bartholomaios under the auspices of the European Commision and its president, Romano Prodi. And last month the Patriarch celebrated a divine liturgy in Tehran, Iran, and gave a lecture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Establishment of Peace in the Contemporary World." Bartholomaios's visit to Ground Zero will, more specifically, include a six-month anniversary memorial service for those lost in the attacks, and will take place at the site of the destroyed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. The service will take place Saturday, March 9, at 1:00 p.m. Bartholomaios is expected to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., on Monday at 4:00 p.m. and will be welcomed by Archibishop Demetrios, government and diplomatic officials, clergy and Greek Orthodox faithful.
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 action@hec.greece.org
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