Full Text of SR0070 98th General Assembly
SR0070enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 70
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul, | 3 | | Turkey, is the Sacred See that presides in a spirit of | 4 | | brotherhood over a communion of self-governing churches of the | 5 | | Orthodox Christian world; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The See is led by Ecumenical Patriarch | 7 | | Bartholomew, who is the 269th in direct succession to the | 8 | | Apostle Andrew and holds titular primacy as primus inter pares, | 9 | | meaning "first among equals," in the community of Orthodox | 10 | | churches world-wide; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1994, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, along | 12 | | with leaders of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, | 13 | | cosponsored the Conference on Peace and Tolerance, which | 14 | | brought together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious | 15 | | leaders for an interfaith dialogue to help end the Balkan | 16 | | conflict and the ethnic conflict in the Caucasus region; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, In 1997, the Congress of the United States awarded | 18 | | Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with the Congressional Gold | 19 | | Medal; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Following the terrorist attacks on our nation on | 21 | | September 11, 2001, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gathered |
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| 1 | | a group of international religious leaders to produce the first | 2 | | joint statement with Muslim leaders that condemned the 9/11 | 3 | | attacks as "antireligious"; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In October 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarch, along | 5 | | with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders, cosponsored the | 6 | | Conference on Peace and Tolerance II to further promote peace | 7 | | and stability in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus region, and | 8 | | Central Asia via religious leaders' interfaith dialogue, | 9 | | understanding, and action; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The Orthodox Christian Church, in existence for | 11 | | nearly 2,000 years, numbers approximately 300,000,000 members | 12 | | world-wide with more than 2,000,000 members in the United | 13 | | States; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Since 1453, the continuing presence of the | 15 | | Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey has been a living testament | 16 | | to the religious coexistence of Christians and Muslims; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, This religious coexistence is in jeopardy because | 18 | | the Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered a minority religion | 19 | | by the Turkish government; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has limited the | 21 | | candidates available to hold the office of Ecumenical Patriarch |
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| 1 | | to only Turkish nationals, and from the millions of Orthodox | 2 | | Christians living in Turkey at the turn of the 20th century and | 3 | | due to the continued policies during this period by the Turkish | 4 | | government, there remain less than 3,000 of the Ecumenical | 5 | | Patriarch's flock left in Turkey today; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey closed the Theological | 7 | | School on the island of Halki in 1971 and has refused to allow | 8 | | it to reopen, thus impeding training for Orthodox Christian | 9 | | clergy; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The Turkish government has confiscated nearly 94% | 11 | | of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's properties and has placed a | 12 | | 42% tax, retroactive to 1999, on the Baloukli Hospital and Home | 13 | | for the Aged, a charity hospital run by the Ecumenical | 14 | | Patriarchate; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The European Union, a group of nations with a | 16 | | common goal of promoting peace and the well-being of its | 17 | | peoples, began accession negotiations with Turkey on October 3, | 18 | | 2005; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The European Union defined membership criteria | 20 | | for accession at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993, | 21 | | obligating candidate countries to achieve certain levels of | 22 | | reform, including stability of institutions guaranteeing |
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| 1 | | democracy, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for and | 2 | | protection of minorities and human rights; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, The Turkish government's current treatment of the | 4 | | Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with the membership | 5 | | conditions and goals of the European Union; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Orthodox Christians in this State and throughout | 7 | | the United States stand to lose their spiritual leader because | 8 | | of the continued actions of the Turkish government; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the | 10 | | Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, a group of laymen who each | 11 | | have been honored with a patriarchal title, or "offikion", by | 12 | | the Ecumenical Patriarch for their outstanding service to the | 13 | | Orthodox Church, will send an American delegation to Turkey to | 14 | | meet with Turkish government officials, as well as the United | 15 | | States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, regarding the | 16 | | Turkish government's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; | 17 | | and | 18 | | WHEREAS, We rightly appreciate that the current Turkish | 19 | | government has
made positive improvements over the last 8 years | 20 | | in its relation to the
Ecumenical Patriarchate with respect to | 21 | | the return of two significant
properties formerly in dispute, | 22 | | with respect to allowing Orthodox clergy in
lands outside |
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| 1 | | Turkey to apply and gain citizenship in Turkey to help
ensure | 2 | | the possibility of patriarchal succession, and with respect to | 3 | | the
physical security of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the | 4 | | recent uncovering
and thwarting of a plotted assassination of | 5 | | Patriarch Bartholomew; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, We recognize that the current Turkish government | 7 | | has
continued to negotiate and publicly address these and other | 8 | | related issues
with a commitment to their resolution in a | 9 | | manner acceptable to all
interested parties; therefore, be it | 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 11 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Government | 12 | | of Turkey to uphold and safeguard religious and human rights | 13 | | without compromise, cease its discrimination of the Ecumenical | 14 | | Patriarchate, grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate appropriate | 15 | | international recognition, ecclesiastic succession, the right | 16 | | to train clergy of all nationalities, and to respect the | 17 | | property rights and human rights of the Ecumenical | 18 | | Patriarchate; and be it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 20 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the United | 21 | | States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, the Ambassador of | 22 | | the Republic of Turkey to the United States, and to the members | 23 | | of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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