Bill Text: HI HR166 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 166 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Ecumenical Patriarchate; Uphold Religious and Human Rights

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-21 - (H) Referred to INT, referral sheet 43 [HR166 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HR166-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	166
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the Republic of Turkey to uphold and safeguard religious and human rights, to cease discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate ecumenical recognition, ecclesiastic succession, and the right to train clergy of all nationalities, and to respect the property rights, human rights, and religious rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

WHEREAS, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul, Turkey, is the Sacred See that presides in a spirit of brotherhood over a communion of self-governing churches of the Orthodox Christian world; and

WHEREAS, the See is led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is the 270^th in direct succession to the Apostle Andrew and holds titular primacy as primus inter pares, meaning "first among equals," in the community of Orthodox Christian churches worldwide; and

WHEREAS, in 1994, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, along with leaders of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, cosponsored the Conference on Peace and Tolerance, which brought together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious leaders for an interfaith dialogue to help end the Balkan conflict and the ethnic conflict in the Caucasus region; and

WHEREAS, in 1997, the Congress of the United States awarded Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with the Congressional Gold Medal; and

WHEREAS, following the terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gathered a group of international religious leaders to produce the first joint statement with Muslim leaders that condemned the 9/11 attacks as "antireligious"; and

WHEREAS, in October 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarch, along with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders, cosponsored the Conference on Peace and Tolerance II to further promote peace and stability in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus region, and Central Asia through religious leaders' interfaith dialogue, understanding, and action; and

WHEREAS, the Orthodox Christian Church, in existence for nearly 2,000 years, numbers approximately 300,000,000 members worldwide with more than 2,000,000 members in the United States; and

WHEREAS, since 1453, the continuing presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul has been a living testament to the religious coexistence of Christians and Muslims; and

WHEREAS, this religious coexistence is in jeopardy because the Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered by the Turkish government to be the head of the Greek minority in Istanbul exclusively, rather than the head of the Greek Orthodox Church; and

WHEREAS, the Turkish government has limited the candidates available to hold the office of Ecumenical Patriarch to only Turkish nationals, and there remain fewer than 2,000 of the Ecumenical Patriarch's congregation in Turkey today; and

WHEREAS, the Turkish government closed the Theological School on the island of Halki in 1971 and has refused to allow it to reopen, thus impeding training for Orthodox Christian clergy; and

WHEREAS, the Turkish government does not recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a legal entity, and is therefore confiscating all of its properties along with the majority of the property belonging to the Greek community and its parishes, and imposing high taxes on the Balouki Hospital and Home for the Aged, a charity hospital; and

WHEREAS, the European Union, a group of nations with a common goal of promoting peace and the well-being of its peoples, began accession negotiations with Turkey on October 3, 2005; and

WHEREAS, the European Union defined membership criteria for accession at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993, obligating candidate countries to achieve certain levels of reform, including stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for and protection of minorities, human rights, and religious rights; and

WHEREAS, the Turkish government's current treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with the membership conditions and goals of the European Union; and

WHEREAS, Orthodox Christians in Hawaii and throughout the United States stand to lose their spiritual leader because of the deliberate actions of the Turkish government; and

WHEREAS, the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, a group of laymen who each have been honored with a patriarchal title, or "offikion," by the Ecumenical Patriarch for their outstanding service to the Orthodox Church, will send an American delegation to Turkey to meet with Turkish government officials, as well as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, regarding the Turkish government's treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Republic of Turkey is requested to:

(1) Uphold and safeguard religious and human rights without compromise;

(2) Cease its discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate;

(3) Grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate ecumenical recognition, ecclesiastic succession, and the right to train clergy of all nationalities; and

(4) Respect the property rights, human rights, and religious rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the United States, and to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.