March 24, 2006
Address of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America on the Occasion of the Proclamation For Greek Independence Day
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Mr. President,

For the sixth consecutive year we have the distinct honor and special privilege to be your hosts at the White House on the occasion of the celebration of Greek Independence Day. As a Greek-American Orthodox community, we are deeply grateful for such a great honor and for your exceptional kindness to sign this pertinent document of proclamation, a proclamation that pays tribute to the historic day of March 25, 1821, which is a symbolic day of the Greek War of Independence, or Greek Revolution, that ended with the liberation of Greece after four bitter centuries under the painful occupation and rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The remarkable issue here is that the Greek Revolution was not an isolated event or a rare phenomenon. Throughout her exceedingly long history of at least 4,000 years before Christ and another 2,000 years after Christ, the nation of Hellenes has been constantly involved in revolutions, battles, and fights for preserving independence and freedom and, when lost, for regaining these precious ideals.

For serious students of history, the mere survival, Mr. President, of the Hellenic nation is a miracle indeed. Greece has always been a nation with a small population, located in a very important geopolitical area which has been a permanent passageway for people and a battleground for armies, not simply for years or centuries, but for millennia. Yet, while numerous other national entities have simply disappeared, the Greek nation has survived the cruelest and longest tests in history. How and why? Is there a secret, is there an explanation, to this survival? Probably yes! And this is the fact that the Greek nation has always been absolutely conscious of having a mission in this world, a mission of serving the highest possible ideals and sharing them with every nation, friend or enemy alike. This awareness and condition of mission explains not only the mere survival but the Greek nation`s brilliant, most generous universal contributions to the ideals of freedom, human dignity, and democracy. This explains its amazing creativity in the fields of science, philosophy, literature, arts, considered classic and unsurpassed, and additionally, its astonishing contribution to theology and religion after the synthesis of Hellenism with Orthodox Christianity during the era of Byzantium.

So then, the celebration of Greek Independence Day is not a celebration of a historically limited event, but of a unique, diachronic, and universal achievement by the Greek nation in “whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, whatever belongs to excellence, whatever belongs to virtue, whatever is worthy of praise,” to use the language of St. Paul from his letter to the Philippians (Phil. 4:8), the Greek people of the city of Philippi in Greece.

In the center of all this is a passion for freedom and independence, for justice and peaceful coexistence, the most precious gifts of God. From such a perspective America, here, is the place for a very appropriate celebration of these unique gifts. We give the warmest thanks to God for living in this beloved country, the United States of America, which exemplifies in the most eloquent way the superb classic achievements that we have mentioned. Here, in America, we do not celebrate occasionally these great achievements. Rather, here, we feel daily the universal demand for freedom; we constantly experience the need for justice for all; we incessantly breathe the air of true democracy; and we deeply share the pain of all those who look for reconciliation and peace on earth.

We are aware Mr. President of your commitment to these great ideals of the universal Hellenic heritage, and we are also aware of the complex and formidable problems that you face in translating the noble principles of freedom and democracy, justice and peace, into a palpable reality. Please be assured that you have our wholehearted prayers in your exceedingly delicate handling of all such relevant issues, and the expression of our faith that with the help of the Almighty God, present and future difficulties will be overcome, and freedom, democracy and peace for all will finally prevail.