IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 188 
Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the reopening of the 
Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Theological School of Halki without condition 
or further delay. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2013 
Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 
ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. SAR-
BANES, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Ms. TITUS, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, and Mr. 
MICHAUD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling upon the Government of Turkey to facilitate the 
reopening of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Theological 
School of Halki without condition or further delay. 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is an institution with 
a history spanning 17 centuries, serving as the center of 
the Orthodox Christian Church throughout the world; 
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; 
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•HRES 188 IH 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of 
the world’s oldest and second largest Christian church lo-
cated in Istanbul, Turkey; 
Whereas within the 2,000-year-old Sacred See of the Ecu-
menical Patriarchate, the New Testament was codified 
and the Nicene Creed was created; 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate sits at the crossroads 
of East and West, offering a unique perspective on the 
religions and cultures of the world; 
Whereas the disappearance of the See would mean the end 
of a crucial link between the Christian and the Muslim 
world since the continuing presence of the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate in Turkey is a living testimony of religious 
co-existence since 1453; 
Whereas the title of Ecumenical Patriarch was formally ac-
corded to the Archbishop of Constantinople by a synod 
convened in Constantinople during the 6th century; 
Whereas since November 1991, His All Holiness, Bar-
tholomew I, has served as Archbishop of Constantinople, 
New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch; 
Whereas Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was awarded 
the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997, in recognition of 
his outstanding and enduring contributions toward reli-
gious understanding and peace; 
Whereas during the 110th Congress, 75 Senators and the 
overwhelming majority of members of the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives wrote to 
President George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of 
Turkey to express congressional concern, which continues 
today, regarding the absence of religious freedom for Ec-
umenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in the areas of 
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•HRES 188 IH 
church-controlled Patriarchal succession, the confiscation 
of the vast majority of Patriarchal properties, recognition 
of the international Ecumenicity of the Patriarchate, and 
the reopening of the Theological School of Halki; 
Whereas the Theological School of Halki, founded in 1844 
and located outside Istanbul, Turkey, served as the prin-
cipal seminary for the Ecumenical Patriarchate until its 
forcible closure by the Turkish authorities in 1971; 
Whereas the alumni of this preeminent educational institution 
include 
numerous 
prominent 
Orthodox 
scholars, 
theologians, priests, bishops, and patriarchs, including 
Bartholomew I; 
Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been a participating 
state of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE) since signing the Helsinki Final Act in 
1975; 
Whereas in 1989, OSCE participating states adopted the Vi-
enna Concluding Document, committing to respect the 
right of religious communities to provide ‘‘training of re-
ligious personnel in appropriate institutions’’; 
Whereas the continued closure of the Ecumenical Patriarch-
ate’s Theological School of Halki has been an ongoing 
issue of concern for the United States people and the 
United States Congress and has been repeatedly raised 
by members of the Commission on Security and Coopera-
tion in Europe and by United States delegations to the 
OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meet-
ing; 
Whereas in his address to the Grand National Assembly of 
Turkey on April 6, 2009, President Barack Obama said, 
‘‘Freedom of religion and expression lead to a strong and 
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