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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize the 50th anniversary of
4Priesthood for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
5Constantinople on October 19, 2019; and
 
6    WHEREAS, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
7was born in the village of Zeytinli on the island of Imbros to
8Christos and Merope Archontonis; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew belongs to the
10historically indigenous Rum, descendants of the Eastern Roman
11Empire/Byzantine Empire Greek community in Turkey; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended
13elementary school in his native Imbros and continued his
14secondary education in the famous Zographeion Lyceum in
15Constantinople; soon afterwards, he studied theology as an
16undergraduate at the Patriarchal Theological School of Halki;
17he graduated with highest honors in 1961 and was immediately
18ordained deacon, receiving the name Bartholomew; from 1963 to
191968, he pursued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical
20Oriental Institute in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey
21in Switzerland, and the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
22in Germany; his doctoral research was on the Canon Law; after

 

 

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1returning to Constantinople in 1968, he took a position at the
2Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was ordained a
4priest on October 19, 1969 by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras
5I; and
 
6    WHEREAS, When Demetrius I became Ecumenical Patriarch in
71972 and established the Patriarchal Office, he selected
8Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as its director; on Christmas
9of 1973, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew became Metropolitan
10of Philadelphia and was renamed as director of the patriarchal
11office until his enthronement as Metropolitan of Chalcedon in
121990; and
 
13    WHEREAS, On October 22, 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch
14Bartholomew was elected the 270th Archbishop of
15Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, for which
16his enthronement ceremony took place on November 2, 1991 in the
17Patriarchal Cathedral in the Phanar; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is recognized in
19the United States and abroad as a leader in the quest for world
20peace, greater religious understanding, and respect for the
21Earth's environment; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the spiritual
2leader of nearly 300,000,000 Orthodox Christians around the
3world and millions of Orthodox Christians in the United States,
4with a significant population here in Illinois and the City of
5Chicago; and
 
6    WHEREAS, On his first official visit to the United States
7in 1997, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the
8Congressional Gold Medal, presented by the United States on
9behalf of Congress in recognition of his outstanding and
10enduring contributions to religious understanding and peace;
11he was recognized by the United States in a manner reserved for
12a very small number of world leaders; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew enhanced greater
14religious understanding by initiating a joint declaration
15stating that it is man's duty to protect the earth, signed by
16himself and Pope John Paul II, the spiritual leaders of nearly
17one out of every five people in the world; and
 
18    WHEREAS, House Resolution 666 of the 95th General Assembly
19passed the Illinois House of Representatives on October 4,
202007, followed by Senate Resolution 70 of the 98th, which
21passed the Illinois State Senate on May 31, 2013, both remarked
22on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's importance to the State
23of Illinois and his accomplishments; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The outstanding accomplishments of Ecumenical
2Patriarch Bartholomew have been formally recognized and
3honored by numerous governmental, academic, and other
4institutions around the world; therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
6HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7we recognize and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Priesthood
8for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on
9October 19, 2019; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That we recognize the importance to Illinois, the
11United States, and to the world of Ecumenical Patriarch
12Bartholomew's leadership on matters of the environment, peace,
13and religion and encourage United States foreign policy makers
14to continue to urge Turkey to grant religious freedom and
15property rights to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as to
16reopen the theological school at Halki; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That we express our support for Ecumenical
18Patriarch Bartholomew's noble efforts for the betterment of
19humankind; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21presented to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a symbol of

 

 

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1our respect and esteem.