GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA

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PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON INVITED TO WHITE HOUSE FOR RELIGIOUS AND HUMAN RIGHTS SPEECH BY PRESIDENT CLINTON

New York, NY - His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), has been invited, along with 35 other religious and human rights leaders, to the White House to hear an address by President Clinton on religious freedom and human rights. The speech, which will be given on Thursday, June 18, 1998 at 9:45 a.m., coincides with the President’s upcoming trip to China, and will be an extraordinary opportunity for religious leaders to hear the President’s views.

SCOBA represents over 6 million Orthodox Christians of Greek, Russian, Romanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Bulgarian, Carpatho_Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian and other ethnic traditions in the Americas.

Upon learning of the invitation, Archbishop Spyridon, said:

“As a person of conscience and of faith, I commend the President for recognizing the importance of including the religious community in the public discourse. People of faith everywhere are bound to the responsibilities of conscience, and we rejoice at the opportunity to lend our moral and spiritual support to the President, as he undertakes his awesome duties as the leader of the free world.”

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