Madame Secretary,
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors of the
Many Nations here represented,
Your Eminence Archbishop Spyridon and brother Bishops,
Honored guests and friends,
Beloved spiritual children in the Lord,

We rise to express our gratitude and profound sense of appreciation to you, Madame Secretary, for your hospitality to our Modesty and this tribute to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  We rise to address you, not as another dignitary among so many, but as a fellow laborer in the vineyard of peace who honors your commitment to the work of reconciliation and the greater scope of dignity and justice for the whole human family.

We are making this pastoral visit to America, in observance of the seventy fifth year of our beloved Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.  Part of our mission is to reach out beyond the borders of our faith tradition, as many of you here reach out beyond the borders of your countries, in order to preach and to teach peace, to those who are afar, and those who are near (cf. Ephesians 2:17).
Tonight, we bring to you a message of hope for the world: that God is our peace, and that through love, we can break down the walls that separate us, and abolish enmity and bring forth peace (cf. Ephesians 2:14,15).  We affirm in the strongest terms, that this spiritual perspective is much more than a comforting sentiment in time of trouble.  For without vision Ö nations, peoples, civilizations perish (cf. Proverbs 29:18).   One vision can transform the world.  One idea can achieve the lasting peace which has for so long eluded the human family.  It becomes a call, a summons to action, not based on an exclusive hold on truth, but the shared hope of humanity.

Fifty years ago, amidst the ashes of the Second World War, America rose up to meet a seemingly insurmountable challenge: the rebuilding of post-war Europe.  Secretary of State, George C. Marshall called on the American people to “comprehend the plight and consequent reactions of the long-suffering peoples” of Europe, and set out to establish what became known as the “Marshall Plan.”  This one visionary idea is what Arnold Toynbee termed “the signal achievement of our age.”

  The jubilee of the Marshall Plan should give us all pause to consider how we might rebuild Eastern Europe and begin building bridges to our Muslim sisters and brothers.  In confronting the complexities of peacemaking in the post-Communist era, we must call upon the lessons of history, to discover a new vision to guide us on our quest for peace.

Madame Secretary, you yourself have posed the question: “How can we best live up to the spirit of the Marshall Plan?”  May we, beseeching the illumination of God’s Holy Spirit, humbly offer to you and to this esteemed assembly a meditation by way of response.
As  Ecumenical Patriarch, we have the responsibility of spiritual seniority among the family of independent Orthodox Churches world wide.  As did our beloved and ever-memorable predecessor on the Ecumenical Throne, Patriarch Dimitrios, we have traveled extensively through the lands which were barred and held fast behind the Iron Curtain.   We rejoice that these “gates of hell” have not prevailed.  The bars have been shattered and liberation has come to long-suffering peoples.  We are witnessing firsthand their struggle to come to terms with fragmentation and reintegration.  The Orthodox Churches of these nations represent hundreds of millions of souls, human beings, whose needs range from day to day necessities to spiritual renewal.  The solution to this complex phenomenon requires a unique perspective.

The genius of the Marshall Plan was that it understood the nature of the problem it confronted: “hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.”  Against prevailing notions of national self-interest, the economic recovery and future of Europe was envisioned as the historical responsibility of the American People.  And the benefits of that genius in the cause of world peace and stability are undisputed to this day.

What is the nature of the problem today in Eastern Europe?  Are the solutions to be found in narrow economic and political categories formulated in the West?   Does man live by bread alone?

As Ecumenical Patriarch, we ask that you consider that working economies are only partial solutions. You, better than we, understand the onerous task of revitalizing economic infrastructures emaciated by failed social policies.  But what of  decimated cultures?  What of religious institutions abused by secular powers for generations?  How are we to rebuild the soul of a Nation?

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, as a trans-national and spiritual force, has sought to assist in the re-construction of the moral, ethical, religious and social fabric that was torn asunder by decades of atheistic totalitarian regimes.  In Albania, we have nurtured the revitalization of the Albanian Orthodox Church, which was thoroughly destroyed by the communist government.  We have advocated for the inclusion of newly freed countries – mostly Orthodox Christian nations — in the emerging political and economic matrix of Europe.

We have taken a proactive role in the dialogue of understanding between the Muslim and Christian worlds.  The Ecumenical Patriarchate is poised on the frontier between these two religions.  Our unique position in history and geography affords us a panoramic view of risks and possibilities.  Our experience has taught us that “all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  If the world is to be culturally and spiritually rebuilt, it must be with a spirit of love, not a demon of fear; a spirit of understanding and appreciation of the qualities of “otherness”, not by ignorance.

Our fervent hope is that our pilgrimage to America, our presence in your distinguished company this evening, will be cause for an awakening of the historical, religious and cultural significance of the civilizations of the East.  During this time of transition, we seek to promote absolute values of freedom and tolerance.  We must not accept the imposition of cultural norms alien to peoples whose roots are, in many cases, hundreds, even thousands of years deeper than those who seek to re-create them in their own image.

Throughout Eastern Europe, Orthodox Christianity is more than a religion; it is a way of life, rooted in the experience of thousands of years of history.  Whatever damage was incurred during the atheistic governments of the recent past, does not and can not invalidate that history.  Let us not give in to easy solutions, nor to the desire to re-make the world in our image.

Madame Secretary, your worthy predecessor marshaled America to action by asking: “What are the sufferings?  What is needed?  What can best be done?  What must done?”

We must recognize that the spiritual needs of people are of equal importance to their material needs.   What is needed is not the love of power, but the love of a powerful nation.   What can best be done is to lead by loving example.  What must be done is to embrace the sanctity of each and every nation: their people, their history, their faith, their civilization.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate stands ready to travel any distance, not only of land and sea, but of knowledge and idea.  We are here to preach love, peace, and hope, to those afar and to those who are near (cf. Ephesians 2:17).

Thank you, and may God bless you.