HOUSE RESOLUTION JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING "WORLD GREEK LANGUAGE DAY IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND" AS PROCLAIMED BY UNESCO

H8374

2026 -- H 8374
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING "WORLD GREEK LANGUAGE DAY IN THE STATE OF
RHODE ISLAND" AS PROCLAIMED BY UNESCO

Introduced By:
Representatives Paplauskas, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Chippendale,
Santucci, Quattrocchi, Read, McNamara, Shallcross Smith, and Hopkins

Date Introduced:
March 31, 2026

Referred To:
House read and passed
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WHEREAS, On November 12, 2025, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
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Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a specialized United Nations agency that promotes
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international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication to build peace and
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foster sustainable development, unanimously declared February 9, 2026, to be “World Greek
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Language Day”; and
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WHEREAS, On February 9, 2026, the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United
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Nations hosted an event in celebration of World Greek Language Day in which the speakers
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highlighted the many important contributions of the Greek language to international dialogue and
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communication as well as its important contributions to global culture; and
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WHEREAS, This important event was opened by the Permanent Representative of
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Greece to the United Nations, Ambassador Aglaia Balta, who spoke about “the deep and lasting
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imprint of the Greek Language”, and emphasized that “Language is not just a tool of
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communication but a bridge of understanding”; and
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WHEREAS, UNESCO explained in its explanatory note when it declared February 9,
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2026, to be “World Greek Language Day”, that “Language is a carrier of culture, an ark of
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values, concepts and identity, an instrument of expression and creation, a bridge of
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communication, understanding and consensus, and among the thousands of languages, Greek
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possesses an unbroken continuity of 40 centuries of oral tradition and 35 centuries of written
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tradition, making it the longest continuously spoken and written language in Europe”; and

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WHEREAS, For the orthodox world, the Greek Language is a crucial and vital key to
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understanding, as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartolomew states, “what is perhaps the greatest
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intellectual paradise in the world, where lie the great and unique works that have left their mark
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on the course of world civilization, the Homeric epics, the Tragedies, the Platonic dialogues, the
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Aristotelian corpus, the New Testament, and the writings of the Greek Fathers”; now, therefore
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be it
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
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joyously celebrates “World Greek Language Day” in the State of Rhode Island, as proclaimed by
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UNESCO; now, therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Greek Ambassador to the United Nations,
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Aglaia Balta, Antonis Alexandridis, Ambassador of Greece to the United States and to His
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Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
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