US Vice President Joe Biden will attend the 42nd Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, July 9.

This will be the third meeting of Biden with the Greek American Community in the last three months.

The Grand Banquet, where Biden will deliver remarks, is traditionally the concluding event of the Clergy-Laity Congress, to be held in the presence of Archbishop Demetrios of America and eighteen hundred delegates and guests.

According to CNA sources, Biden will refer in his speech to issues regarding the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Halki Seminary in Istanbul.

The Obama administration and previous US governments have asked the Turkish government to respect religious freedoms and reopen the Seminary, which was closed down in 1971.