Bill Text: OH HCR7 | 2011-2012 | 129th General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: As Reported by the House Judiciary and Ethics Committee 129th General AssemblyRegular Session2011-2012H. C. R. No. 7 Representative Letson
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-09-15 - Committee Report [HCR7 Detail]
Download: Ohio-2011-HCR7-Comm_Sub.html
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Representative Letson
Cosponsors:
Representatives Derickson, Carey, Yuko, Fedor, Blair, Blessing, Mecklenborg
| To urge the Government of Turkey to respect the | 1 |
| rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical | 2 |
| Patriarchate. | 3 |
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO
(THE SENATE CONCURRING):
| WHEREAS, The Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in Istanbul, | 4 |
| Turkey, is the spiritual home of the world's second largest | 5 |
| Christian church; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, Within the two-thousand-year-old Sacred See of the | 7 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate, the New Testament was codified and the | 8 |
| Nicene Creed was created; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The Sacred See is led by Ecumenical Patriarch | 10 |
| Bartholomew, one of the world's preeminent spiritual leaders and | 11 |
| peacemakers representing 300 million Orthodox Christians | 12 |
| worldwide; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has a record of | 14 |
| reaching out and working for peace and reconciliation among all | 15 |
| faiths and has fostered an interfaith dialogue among Christians, | 16 |
| Jews, and Muslims; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Following the attacks on our nation on September 11, | 18 |
| 2001, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gathered a group of | 19 |
| international religious leaders to produce the first joint | 20 |
| statement with Muslim leaders that condemned these attacks as | 21 |
| "anti-religious"; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, The Ecumenical Patriarchate co-sponsored the | 23 |
| Conference on Peace and Tolerance in Istanbul, which issued the | 24 |
| Bosporus Declaration that stated that "A crime committed in the | 25 |
| name of religion is a crime against religion"; and | 26 |
| WHEREAS, Since 1453 the continuing presence of the Ecumenical | 27 |
| Patriarchate in Turkey has been a living testament to religious | 28 |
| coexistence; and | 29 |
| WHEREAS, This religious coexistence is in jeopardy because | 30 |
| the Government of Turkey refuses to recognize the rights and | 31 |
| religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and | 32 |
| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has failed to recognize the | 33 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate's international status; and | 34 |
| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has limited to Turkish | 35 |
| nationals the candidates available to hold the office of | 36 |
| Ecumenical Patriarch; and | 37 |
| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has confiscated 75% of the | 38 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate's properties and has placed a 42% | 39 |
| retroactive tax on the Balukli Hospital of Istanbul, which is | 40 |
| operated by the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and | 41 |
| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey has reneged on its | 42 |
| agreement to reopen the Theological School at Halki, which the | 43 |
| Government of Turkey closed in 1971, thus impeding training for | 44 |
| the Orthodox clergy in Turkey; and | 45 |
| WHEREAS, The European Union, a group of nations with a common | 46 |
| goal of promoting peace and the well-being of its peoples, has | 47 |
| agreed to open accession negotiations with Turkey; and | 48 |
| WHEREAS, Under the terms of the draft European Union | 49 |
| Constitution, current and prospective member nations should have | 50 |
| the goal of eliminating discrimination based upon grounds such as | 51 |
| sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, | 52 |
| language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, | 53 |
| national minority membership, property, birth, disability, age, or | 54 |
| sexual orientation; and | 55 |
| WHEREAS, The Government of Turkey's current treatment of the | 56 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate is inconsistent with the membership | 57 |
| conditions and goals of the European Union; and | 58 |
| WHEREAS, Orthodox Christians in Ohio and throughout the | 59 |
| United States stand to lose their spiritual leader because of the | 60 |
| continued actions of the Government of Turkey; now therefore be it | 61 |
| RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 129th General Assembly | 62 |
| of the State of Ohio, in adopting this resolution, urge the | 63 |
| Government of Turkey to uphold and safeguard religious and human | 64 |
| rights without compromise, grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate | 65 |
| appropriate international recognition and ecclesiastic succession, | 66 |
| grant the Ecumenical Patriarch the right to train clergy of all | 67 |
| nationalities, and respect the property and human rights of the | 68 |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate; and be it further | 69 |
| RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to | 70 |
| the President of the United States, the United States Ambassador | 71 |
| to the Republic of Turkey, the Ambassador of the Republic of | 72 |
| Turkey to the United States, and the Ohio Congressional | 73 |
| delegation. | 74 |
