[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 24 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 24

   Expressing the sense of Congress on the importance of the Eastern 
                   Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 5, 1997

  Ms. Snowe submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of Congress on the importance of the Eastern 
                   Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate.

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual center for 
        more than 250,000,000 Orthodox Christians world-wide, including 
        approximately 5,000,000 in the United States;
            (2) in recent years the Ecumenical Patriarchate has 
        experienced a number of security threats in Turkey;
            (3) His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew and those 
        associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate are Turkish 
        citizens and have the full protection of Turkish law; and
            (4) the reopening of the Halki School of Theology, the only 
        educational institution for Orthodox Christian leadership in 
        Turkey, would assist the long-term viability of the Ecumenical 
        Patriarchate.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should--
            (1) continue to support the Ecumenical Patriarchate's non-
        political, religious mission;
            (2) encourage the continued maintenance of the 
        institution's physical security needs, as provided for under 
        Turkish and international law; and
            (3) use its good offices to encourage the reopening of the 
        Ecumenical Patriarchate's Halki Patriarchal School of Theology.
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