Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, blessed the Mississippi River as part of his trip to New Orleans.The Istanbul-based patriarch blessed the river Thursday during an excursion on the Natchez steamboat that took him down the river to the French Quarter.
Bartholomew is on a tour of the United States and is in New Orleans for a symposium on the environmental challenges facing the planet and south Louisiana. Since 1995, Bartholomew has brought attention to the world's environmental problems with a series of forums billed as the Religion, Science and The Environment symposia.
Bartholomew is scheduled early next month to meet President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington. The trip also will include stops in New York, Georgia and Maryland.
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