Metropolitan Theodosius attends Appeal of Conscience Foundation Awards Dinner

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, was one of many distinguished guests attending the annual awards dinner of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation at the Marriott Marquis Hotel here Monday, September 24, 2001.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier, founder and president of the Foundation, an organization of religious and business leaders of all faiths dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights around the world, hosted approximately 600 guests for the annual affair. Despite the tragic events of September 11, the Foundation decided to still hold the dinner as a means of honoring those who recently lost their lives and to demonstrate that those who promote human freedom and dignity will not be stopped by cowardly acts of terrorism.

His Excellency Kim Dae-Jung, President of the Republic of Korea, received the “Appeal of Conscience World Statesman Award,” while Dr. Heinrich von Pierer, President and CEO of Siemens, AG, was presented with the Appeal of Conscience Award. President Kim Dae-Jung was unable to attend the ceremony due to the recent events in New York City, but he was represented by the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea and President of the UN General Assembly, His Excellency Han Seung-soo.

Dinner speakers included the Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations; the Honorable Henry Kissinger; the Honorable George Pataki, Governor of New York; and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Also attending the banquet were His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; His Grace, Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; His Grace, Bishop Mercurius, Representative of the Patriarchate of Moscow in the United States; Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA Chancellor; the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Trustee of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, and his wife; and the Very Revs. David Brum and Joseph Fester.