Bill Text: IL HR0348 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes the 50th anniversary of Priesthood for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on October 19, 2019.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-05-30 - Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Dan Ugaste [HR0348 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HR0348-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to recognize the 50th anniversary of
Priesthood for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople on October 19, 2019; and
WHEREAS, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
was born in the village of Zeytinli on the island of Imbros to
Christos and Merope Archontonis; and
WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew belongs to the
historically indigenous Rum, descendants of the Eastern Roman
Empire/Byzantine Empire Greek community in Turkey; and
WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended
elementary school in his native Imbros and continued his
secondary education in the famous Zographeion Lyceum in
Constantinople; soon afterwards, he studied theology as an
undergraduate at the Patriarchal Theological School of Halki;
he graduated with highest honors in 1961 and was immediately
ordained deacon, receiving the name Bartholomew; from 1963 to
1968, he pursued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical
Oriental Institute in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey
in Switzerland, and the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
in Germany; his doctoral research was on the Canon Law; after

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returning to Constantinople in 1968, he took a position at the
Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki; and
WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was ordained a
priest on October 19, 1969 by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras
I; and
WHEREAS, When Demetrius I became Ecumenical Patriarch in
1972 and established the Patriarchal Office, he selected
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as its director; on Christmas
of 1973, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew became Metropolitan
of Philadelphia and was renamed as director of the patriarchal
office until his enthronement as Metropolitan of Chalcedon in
1990; and
WHEREAS, On October 22, 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew was elected the 270th Archbishop of
Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, for which
his enthronement ceremony took place on November 2, 1991 in the
Patriarchal Cathedral in the Phanar; and
WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is recognized in
the United States and abroad as a leader in the quest for world
peace, greater religious understanding, and respect for the
Earth's environment; and

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WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the spiritual
leader of nearly 300,000,000 Orthodox Christians around the
world and millions of Orthodox Christians in the United States,
with a significant population here in Illinois and the City of
Chicago; and
WHEREAS, On his first official visit to the United States
in 1997, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the
Congressional Gold Medal, presented by the United States on
behalf of Congress in recognition of his outstanding and
enduring contributions to religious understanding and peace;
he was recognized by the United States in a manner reserved for
a very small number of world leaders; and
WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew enhanced greater
religious understanding by initiating a joint declaration
stating that it is man's duty to protect the earth, signed by
himself and Pope John Paul II, the spiritual leaders of nearly
one out of every five people in the world; and
WHEREAS, House Resolution 666 of the 95th General Assembly
passed the Illinois House of Representatives on October 4,
2007, followed by Senate Resolution 70 of the 98th, which
passed the Illinois State Senate on May 31, 2013, both remarked
on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's importance to the State
of Illinois and his accomplishments; and

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WHEREAS, The outstanding accomplishments of Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew have been formally recognized and
honored by numerous governmental, academic, and other
institutions around the world; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we recognize and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Priesthood
for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on
October 19, 2019; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we recognize the importance to Illinois, the
United States, and to the world of Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew's leadership on matters of the environment, peace,
and religion and encourage United States foreign policy makers
to continue to urge Turkey to grant religious freedom and
property rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as to
reopen the theological school at Halki; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we express our support for Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew's noble efforts for the betterment of
humankind; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a symbol of

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our respect and esteem.