81R20578 MMS-F
By: Huffman S.C.R. No. 70
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Ecumenical Patriarchate, located in modern-day
Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, in the Republic of
Turkey, is the Sacred See that presides over a community of
self-governing churches of the Orthodox Christian world; and
WHEREAS, The See is led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,
who is the 269th direct successor of the Apostle Andrew and who
holds titular primacy as primus inter pares, "first among equals,"
in the community of Orthodox Churches worldwide; the Orthodox
Church has been in existence for nearly 2,000 years and numbers
approximately 300 million members around the world, with more than
2 million members in the United States; and
WHEREAS, The government of Turkey refuses to recognize the
international status and the rights and religious freedoms of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, the head of the Greek Orthodox Christian
Church, which is a minority religion in Turkey; and
WHEREAS, The government of Turkey and Turkish prime ministers
have limited the candidates available to the Holy Synod for
selection as the Ecumenical Patriarch to Turkish nationals who have
performed mandatory military service in the Turkish armed forces,
and they continue to insist that any new spiritual head of Orthodox
Christians, including Orthodox Christians in Texas and throughout
the United States, be approved by them; because of selective
enforcement of laws and regulations, the once large eligible
community of Turkish citizens of the Orthodox faith has declined to
only approximately 2,500 persons, most of whom are elderly; and
WHEREAS, Before its closure, the Theological School of Halki
was the only educational institution for Orthodox Christianity in
Turkey; the school was closed in 1971 by Turkish authorities under a
law requiring that higher education in religion and minority
training be controlled by the state; and
WHEREAS, The United States Congress passed a resolution
expressing its sentiment that the Orthodox Theological School of
Halki in the Republic of Turkey should be reopened in order to
promote religious freedom; and
WHEREAS, The government of Turkey has reneged on its
agreement to reopen the Theological School of Halki, thus impeding
training for Orthodox Christian clergy within its borders; and
WHEREAS, In recent years, the government of Turkey has, in
violation of the inalienable rights of all peoples, confiscated
more than 90 percent of the properties of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate and has placed a 42 percent tax, retroactive to 1999,
on the nonprofit Balukli hospital, which is run by the Ecumenical
Patriarchate; and
WHEREAS, The dissolution of the spiritual head of Orthodox
Christian Churches in the coming decades is inevitable if Turkey
continues its policy of interference in religious matters, despite
the government's stated policy of being purely secular in its
dealings; and
WHEREAS, All Christians in our state, in the United States,
and around the world stand to lose this nearly 2,000-year-old
Sacred See, where the text of the New Testament was codified, the
canonical structure of the Christian church was established, and
the Nicene Creed was written and first pronounced; the
disappearance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate would mean the loss of
a crucial link between Christians and their religious history,
sacred texts, and religious forebears; and
WHEREAS, The disappearance of this See would also mean the
end of a crucial link between Christians and the Muslim world; at a
time when individuals hostile to the United States are attempting
to create conflict between Christians and Muslims, the continuing
presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey is a powerful
testament to the coexistence of these two faiths in Istanbul since
1453; and
WHEREAS, Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
on America, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew, gathered international religious leaders
and produced the first statement signed by Muslim leaders that
condemned the attacks as "anti-religious"; and
WHEREAS, The importance of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
to the United States is reflected in the record number of
Congressional cosponsors of the measure that bestowed on him
America's highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal of
Honor--an award also given to George Washington, Winston Churchill,
Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul II; 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 to the European Union at the Copenhagen European Council
in 1993, obligating candidate countries to have achieved certain
levels of reform, including stability of institutions guaranteeing
democracy, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for and
protection of minorities and human rights; and
WHEREAS, The Treaty of Amsterdam, which came into effect in
1999, affirms that the European Union is founded on the principles
of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, and the rule of law; Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty
enables the European Council to take appropriate action to combat
discrimination based on religion or belief; and
WHEREAS, Turkey's current treatment of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate is inconsistent with the membership conditions and
goals of the European Union; and
WHEREAS, The United States has long been a beacon of hope for
vulnerable and disenfranchised people around the world, and the
State of Texas has long valued and defended the principles of
democracy, individual liberty, freedom of speech, and freedom of
religion; as citizens of conscience of this great land, we bear both
the responsibility and the honor to raise our voices against
injustice in behalf of those unable to speak for themselves; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby express its support for the Ecumenical Patriarchate and urge
the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, as
leaders of the international community, to encourage the government
of Turkey to cease its discrimination against one of the oldest
institutions in Christianity, the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and, be
it further
RESOLVED, That the State of Texas call on the government of
Turkey to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on religion
and to immediately grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate appropriate
international recognition, the right to determine ecclesiastic
succession, and the right to train clergy of all nationalities;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the State of Texas call on the government of
Turkey to pledge to uphold and safeguard religious rights without
compromise; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the United States ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, to the
ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the United States, to the
presidents of the commission, parliament, and Council of the
European Union, to the secretary general of the United Nations, to
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
the Congress of the United States of America.