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Published by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
March 29, 2005
President George W. Bush Warmly Welcomes
Archbishop Demetrios and the Greek American
Community to the White House on the Occasion
of Greek Independence Day 2005 |
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March 29,
2005
New York, NY - President George W. Bush warmly
welcomed His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of
America, spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek
Orthodox Christians, and the Greek American
community to the White House on March 28, on the
occasion of the celebration of Greek Independence
Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and
American Democracy 2005. (Proclamation text
attached). Some 100 government officials, the
Foreign Minister of Greece, Greek and Cypriot
diplomats and Greek Americans from throughout the
United States attended the ceremony in the Old
Executive Office building.
In his opening remarks, Archbishop Demetrios
thanked President Bush for his kind invitation and
stated: “Mr. President, we as Christian Orthodox
Greek Americans, are very grateful to you for
inviting us here today for this celebration of
freedom, liberation and independence and for
issuing the truly outstanding declaration which
stands as a witness to your commitment for freedom
for all peoples.
…. We know that your perspective of freedom
embraces places in need and support of it from
Afghanistan and Iraq to the Middle East, Cyprus,
and the Balkans especially in sensitive areas like
Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. And we are particularly touched by your
efforts to secure the freedom of worship,
education, and benevolent actions for all
religious minorities and institutions, among them
for our Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople.” (Full text of Archbishop’s
address attached)
President Bush, in his response, warmly welcomed
His Eminence and everyone in attendance and said,
“Greek Independence Day is a good time to confirm
the presence of Greek Americans in our country and
gives us a chance to say thanks to a fantastic
culture for enriching America.” The President also
acknowledged the presences of several individuals,
including Greek American members of his
administration Andrew Natsios, the director of the
USAID and Frances Fragos Townsend, Homeland
Security Advisor and Deputy National Secretary for
Combating Terrorism. He praised John Negroponte,
his National Intelligence Director, Designate, and
also acknowledged the presence of the Foreign
Minister of Greece Petros Molyviatis, the
Ambassador of Greece George Savvaides and the
Ambassador of Cyprus Euripides Evriviades. The
President repeatedly recognized the Foreign
Minister, emphasizing the warm relations between
the governments of Greece and the United States.
Earlier, the Secretary of Transportation Norman
Mineta hosted a luncheon in honor of His Eminence
Archbishop Demetrios in Blair House. In welcoming
His Eminence and guests, including members of the
government, diplomats and Greek American
community, Secretary Mineta said: “We celebrate
today values such as faith, hard work, devotion to
family and koinotita (community). Today’s
celebration of your homeland is not only a
celebration of heritage, but also of
democracy…Indeed, as the struggle for independence
and freedom continues to be recognized today by
our two great nations - Greece is one of only a
handful of countries that fought alongside the
United States in every major 20th century war. Now
as the 21st century has dawned, Greece and America
once again stand united, no matter how far apart
are our shores, Greeks and Americans share the
love of freedom, liberty and individual rights and
for that we are here today to celebrate.”
Greek Independence Day, 2005
A Proclamation by the President of the United
States of America
Well before modern Greece gained her independence,
the ancient Athenians adopted democratic
principles that guided their society. These
principles inspired our Founding Fathers to
proclaim the imperative of self-government as they
worked to build our great Nation. America's love
for liberty has deep roots in the spirit of
Greece. On Greek Independence Day, we celebrate
our special ties of friendship, history, and
shared values with Greece.
Our country has welcomed generations of Greek
immigrants, and we are grateful for their talents,
wisdom, and creativity. We honor the Greek spirit
that values family and education, public service
and faith. Greek Americans have made a mark in
every field B- enhancing our culture, enriching
our commerce, and defending our freedom. Their
strong record of public service has also
strengthened our democracy, and their
contributions have made America a better place.
As we address the challenges of the 21st century,
the United States and Greece remain committed
partners in the vital work of advancing freedom
and democracy. Our two Nations are founded on
shared ideals of liberty, and we are working
together to advance those ideals across the world
today.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
March 25, 2005, as Greek Independence Day: A
National Day of Celebration of Greek and American
Democracy. I call upon all Americans to observe
this day with appropriate ceremonies and
activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
this twenty fourth day of March, in the year of
our Lord two thousand five, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and twenty ninth.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Address by Archbishop Demetrios of America
To the President of the United States of America
George Bush
Celebration of Greek Independence Day
White House, Washington DC
28 March 2005
Mr. President,
We are, as representatives of the Christian
Orthodox Greek-American community, once again, in
this historic and sacred place of our nation,
invited by your extraordinary kindness in a
special celebration of the Greek Independence Day.
This is a celebration of freedom, a gathering
together to sing with our hearts and minds the
hymns of liberation and the praises of
independence. Indeed, this celebration
reverberates powerfully and harmoniously the basic
theme of freedom which you, Mr. President, so
eloquently and passionately presented at your
inspiring and programmatic inaugural speech on
January 20th of this year. This is so because the
essence of Greek Independence Day is freedom.
Freedom in a multidimensional way.
The celebration of Greek Independence Day is a
direct reference to two distinct dates: the 25th
of March of the year 0 (Zero) twenty centuries ago
and the 25th of March of the year 1821, almost two
centuries ago.
The first date is the original day of the unique
event of the Annunciation made to the Virgin Mary
at Nazareth. This was an event of ultimate and
all-encompassing freedom because it announced the
Good News of God becoming human in the person of
Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man. In
Jesus Christ, through His ministry, death and
Resurrection we have the liberation from the
bondage to evil and sin, the liberation from the
slavery to ignorance and falsehood and the
liberation from the subjugation to death and its
fear. Thus in the event of the Annunciation a
triple freedom of the highest possible nature and
quality is proclaimed and experienced as ineffable
joy of forgiveness and liberation from guilt, as
amazing knowledge of the divine Truth and as firm
conviction that death, the primordial enemy, has
been defeated.
To the above three vital aspects of freedom, a
fourth, exceedingly important aspect is added by
the second date which is central to the Greek
Independence Day celebration namely the 25th of
March 1821.
This date is also dominated by the reality of
freedom understood as national and political
independence. It was freedom as a superb gift of
God, as an absolute human value and as a universal
and diachronic ideal, that inspired the people of
Greece to start a revolution for gaining their
independence after four centuries of foreign
occupation of their God-given land. They
considered freedom from the yoke of a hostile
power, and achievement of their national
independence as something truly sacred that
deserved the heaviest sacrifices on their part.
They placed freedom above their own lives,
declared, on the very same day of the feast of the
Annunciation, that “God has signed the freedom of
Greece and He cannot take back His signature”, and
started their revolution. The reality that the
Greek people found themselves faced with in 1821
clearly indicated that their war for independence
had no chance for success. It was a fight against
a formidable Ottoman empire, much like that of
David against Goliath to use a biblical image—but
we know that David was victorious. And so were the
truly heroic Greek Independence fighters of 1821.
They were victorious against all negative
predictions and they managed to re-establish
Greece as an independent nation and state after
four centuries of suffering and ordeal under a
cruel and brutal foreign rule. Thus they presented
to the world an amazing model of freedom and
independence of a truly lasting value, a model
beautifully suggested by their basic slogan: it is
better a life of freedom even for one hour than a
life of forty years of slavery and prison. A model
fully relevant to the contemporary world,
especially in situations where freedom in all its
aspects, as a God given right, is being suppressed
and denied.
Mr. President,
We, as Christian Orthodox Greek-Americans, are
very grateful to you for inviting us here today
for this celebration of freedom, liberation and
independence and for issuing the truly outstanding
declaration which stands as a witness to your
commitment for freedom for all peoples.
We are thankful to you for making freedom the
theme of your inaugural speech, thus giving to our
nation the stimulating and inspiring guidance for
thinking freedom, programming freedom and doing
freedom within America, the land and the home of
the brave and the free, and throughout the whole
world. We know that your perspective of freedom
embraces places in need and support of it from
Afghanistan and Iraq to the Middle East, Cyprus,
the Balkans especially in sensitive areas like
Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. And we are particularly touched by your
efforts to secure the freedom of worship,
education, and benevolent action for all religious
minorities and institutions, among them for our
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
We know that God, the Liberator and Lord of
freedom, is with us and we fervently pray for his
blessings on the sacred work for freedom,
liberation and independence for all people and
nations, a work that all of us, and especially you
Mr. President, are pursuing, following the
declaration of God to all the people of the earth:
You have been called to freedom… but through love
serve each other (Galatians 5:13).
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