ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS PRESENTS AWARD TO
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON
WASHINGTON,
DC - Archbishop Demetrios of America presented a special award to
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during a small ceremony
yesterday at the State Department.
The ceremony
took place in the Treaty Room shortly after Secretary Clinton received
Archbishop Demetrios and a delegation of leaders of the National
Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) who were participating in the 25th
Annual Cyprus and Hellenic Leadership Conference, taking place in
Washington May 20-22.
The special
award was presented "in light of unprecedented steps that have been
taken in this very short period of time in the right direction on Hellenic
and Orthodox issues" and symbolically contained two small vials of
soil - one from Athens and one from Capitol Hill in Washington - and an
inscription which partly read "from this hallowed earth have come the
world's greatest minds, ideas and actions."
Presenting
the Award to Hillary Clinton Archbishop Demetrios conveyed the greeting of
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and speaking of the cooperation on the
issues of Justice and Religious Freedom said:
"We trust in your judgment and your disposition and your total
dedication to these issues. and we offer this plaque as an indication of
our recognition of what you have been doing and as a token of our
continuous cooperation."
In her
response the Secretary thanked and welcomed His Eminence and the other
leaders and said: "We are committed to the reopening of the Halki
Seminary, to the unification of Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal
federation, and we know these are difficult issues," and she pledged
that her Administration is committed in making progress on them.
Secretary
Clinton also asked the Archbishop to convey to His All Holiness her
personal wishes saying ". please extend my personal best wishes to
the Patriarch. My opportunities to visit with him and talk with him have
been true highlights of my life in public service, and I look forward to
seeing him again. I understand he may be coming to the United States, I
hope in the future, and it will be my great honor to receive him and to
look forward to hosting him here at the State Department."
The group of
leaders who were present at the ceremony with the Archbishop included 10
members of CEH: Andrew A. Athens, Zenon Christodoulou, Philip Christopher,
Michael Galanakis, Andy Manatos, Mike Manatos, Nikos Mouyiaris, Peter
Papanicolaou, George J. Tsunis and Tasos D. Zambas, and Supreme Vice
President of AHEPA Nick Karacostas.
== 30 ==
|