Saturday, September 13, 2014

President Obama Meets with Patriarchs and Bishops

OCN received a copy of the above photograph today, after a team from OCN attended the IDC Summit in Washington, DC, this week. The accompanying letter notes that President Obama met with these Patriarchs and Bishops for 40 minutes, together with his National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.
The purpose of the conversation was to discuss the support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Additional information about this historic meeting has been reported here by the Syriac International News Agency (SINA). SINA notes: “For the first time in history, five Christian Patriarchs representing Christian communities in the Middle East visited the White House to discuss the protection of Christians in the Middle East with President Obama and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.”
It should be noted that His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East was not able to atten. His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joseph Al-ZehlaouiArchbishop of New York and All North America of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church attended the meeting as the official representative of Patriarch John X.

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