Full Text of HR0666 95th General Assembly
HR0666 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| Urging the Government of Turkey to grant the Ecumenical | 3 |
| Patriarch appropriate international recognition, | 4 |
| ecclesiastical succession, and the right to train clergy of all | 5 |
| nationalities and to respect the property rights and human | 6 |
| rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and for other purposes. | 7 |
| WHEREAS, The Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul, | 8 |
| Turkey, is the Sacred See that presides in a spirit of | 9 |
| brotherhood over a communion of self-governing churches of the | 10 |
| Orthodox Christian world; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, The See is led by Ecumenical Patriarch | 12 |
| Bartholomew, who is the 269th in direct succession to the | 13 |
| Apostle Andrew and holds titular primacy as primus inter pares, | 14 |
| meaning "first among equals," in the community of Orthodox | 15 |
| churches world-wide; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, In 1994, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, along | 17 |
| with leaders of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, | 18 |
| cosponsored the Conference on Peace and Tolerance, which | 19 |
| brought together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious | 20 |
| leaders for an interfaith dialogue to help end the Balkan | 21 |
| conflict and the ethnic conflict in the Caucasus region; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1997, the Congress of the United States awarded | 2 |
| Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with the Congressional Gold | 3 |
| Medal; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Following the terrorist attacks on our nation on | 5 |
| September 11, 2001, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gathered | 6 |
| a group of international religious leaders to produce the first | 7 |
| joint statement with Muslim leaders that condemned the 9/11 | 8 |
| attacks as "antireligious"; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, In October 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarch, along | 10 |
| with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders, cosponsored the | 11 |
| Conference on Peace and Tolerance II to further promote peace | 12 |
| and stability in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus region, and | 13 |
| Central Asia via religious leaders' interfaith dialogue, | 14 |
| understanding, and action; and
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| WHEREAS, The Orthodox Christian Church, in existence for | 16 |
| nearly 2,000 years, numbers approximately 300,000,000 members | 17 |
| world-wide with more than 2,000,000 members in the United | 18 |
| States; and
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| WHEREAS, Since 1453, the continuing presence of the | 20 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey has been a living testament | 21 |
| to the religious coexistence of Christians and Muslims; and
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| WHEREAS, This religious coexistence is in jeopardy because | 2 |
| the Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered a minority religion | 3 |
| by the Turkish government; and
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| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has limited the | 5 |
| candidates available to hold the office of Ecumenical Patriarch | 6 |
| to only Turkish nationals, and from the millions of Orthodox | 7 |
| Christians living in Turkey at the turn of the 20th century and | 8 |
| due to the continued policies during this period by the Turkish | 9 |
| government, there remain less than 3,000 of the Ecumenical | 10 |
| Patriarch's flock left in Turkey today; and
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| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey closed the Theological | 12 |
| School on the island of Halki in 1971 and has refused to allow | 13 |
| it to reopen, thus impeding training for Orthodox Christian | 14 |
| clergy; and
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| WHEREAS, The Turkish government has confiscated nearly 94% | 16 |
| of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's properties and has placed a | 17 |
| 42% tax, retroactive to 1999, on the Baloukli Hospital and Home | 18 |
| for the Aged, a charity hospital run by the Ecumenical | 19 |
| Patriarchate; and
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| WHEREAS, The European Union, a group of nations with a | 21 |
| common goal of promoting peace and the well-being of its | 22 |
| peoples, began accession negotiations with Turkey on October 3, |
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| 2005; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, The European Union defined membership criteria | 3 |
| for accession at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993, | 4 |
| obligating candidate countries to achieve certain levels of | 5 |
| reform, including stability of institutions guaranteeing | 6 |
| democracy, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for and | 7 |
| protection of minorities and human rights; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, The Turkish government's current treatment of the | 9 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with the membership | 10 |
| conditions and goals of the European Union; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Orthodox Christians in this State and throughout | 12 |
| the United States stand to lose their spiritual leader because | 13 |
| of the continued actions of the Turkish government; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the | 15 |
| Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, a group of laymen who each | 16 |
| have been honored with a patriarchal title, or "offikion", by | 17 |
| the Ecumenical Patriarch for their outstanding service to the | 18 |
| Orthodox Church, will send an American delegation to Turkey to | 19 |
| meet with Turkish government officials, as well as the United | 20 |
| States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, regarding the | 21 |
| Turkish government's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; | 22 |
| therefore, be it |
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 |
| the members of this House urge the Government of Turkey to: (1) | 4 |
| uphold and safeguard religious and human rights without | 5 |
| compromise; (2) cease its discrimination of the Ecumenical | 6 |
| Patriarchate; (3) grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate | 7 |
| international recognition, ecclesiastic succession, and the | 8 |
| right to train clergy of all nationalities; and (4) respect the | 9 |
| property rights and human rights of the Ecumenical | 10 |
| Patriarchate; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives is | 12 |
| authorized and directed to transmit appropriate copies of this | 13 |
| resolution to the President of the United States, the United | 14 |
| States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, the Ambassador of | 15 |
| the Republic of Turkey to the United States, and to the members | 16 |
| of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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