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Thoughts on this?Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, is making his first visit in four years to the United States, where he met Monday afternoon with President Donald Trump and is slated to receive honors for his environmental advocacy.
Bartholomew arrived in Washington Sunday and is scheduled to make various U.S. appearances through Sept. 25.
Bartholomew is considered first among equals among Orthodox patriarchs because of his role as patriarch of Constantinople, the ancient capital city now known as Istanbul in Turkey. That role gives him prominence, but not the power of a pope, in a church with various self-governing jurisdictions.
The patriarch oversees the small Orthodox population in mostly Muslim Turkey. He also oversees some communities abroad, such as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and some smaller U.S. jurisdictions.
Bartholomew’s meeting with Trump took place Monday afternoon in the Oval Office. His office issued a brief summary of the meeting, and he expanded on that in comments to reporters.
The patriarch told reporters afterward that he talked about the small Christian population in Turkey, “the hardships they face, the difficulties, the persecutions, but also the fact that despite all these we survive and we continue to carry out our mission,” according to the archdiocese’s Orthodox Observer news site.
Bartholomew also talked about Ukraine and his role in church affairs there.
Bartholomew is a strong supporter of Ukraine. He recognized an independent Orthodox jurisdiction there in 2019, leading the Russian Orthodox Church to declare that the communion between it and Constantinople is broken. Bartholomew has also sharply criticized Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s blessing of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The patriarch said he talked with Trump about past Russian oppression of Ukraine and about its current invasion, “about the thousands of victims, about the destruction, about the kidnapped children, about all these tragic events that wound the conscience of humanity,” according to the Observer.
Leaders of Gaza’s Christian community said in a joint statement released on August 26 that the forced displacement would amount to “nothing less than a death sentence”.“Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months,” the patriarchs wrote. “For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds.”
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Clergy to stay in their churches
“This decision came with complete freedom,” Farid Gibran, the Holy Family Church’s spokesperson, explained, saying those sheltering at the church have the liberty to leave if they want to.
The decision of the church leaders to stay in Gaza City has inspired many of those residing at the Holy Family Church to remain despite growing fears of Israeli attacks. Many, like Moussa Saad Ayyad, 41, a father of four children aged six to 14, believe the church’s relationship with the Vatican could guarantee relative safety.
“They took my home and my loved ones, but they won’t take my right to remain here on my land no matter how dark it gets,” Fouad told Al Jazeera as he watched his daughter sleep.
I'm not against this in a way. Why should I have to give my taxes to Republicans, When they want nothing to with Democrat ,except when it comes to money . What should happen, is all Democrats support Democrats people only . And red states take care of them selves .Except for the Democrats in Red States. problem solved.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) revived her calls for a “national divorce” on Monday, ominously warning that the American right and left have “nothing left to talk about.”
Greene sparked controversy in February of 2023, when she wrote on X, “We need a national divorce.”
“We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s [sic] traitorous America Last policies, we are done,” Greene added.