IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 506 
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 
DECEMBER 20, 2011 
Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. SARBANES, and 
Ms. BERKLEY) 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; 
Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the spiritual home of 
the world’s oldest and second largest Christian church lo-
cated in Istanbul, Turkey; 
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•HRES 506 IH 
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 sixth 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 
church-controlled Patriarchal succession, the confiscation 
of the vast majority of Patriarchal properties, recognition 
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•HRES 506 IH 
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, the OSCE participating states adopted the 
Vienna 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 American people and the United 
States Congress and has been repeatedly raised by mem-
bers of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe and by United States delegations to the OSCE’s 
annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting; 
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 
vibrant civil society that only strengthens the state, which 
is why steps like reopening Halki Seminary will send 
such an important signal inside Turkey and beyond.’’; 
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•HRES 506 IH 
Whereas, in a welcomed development, the Prime Minister of 
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met with the Ecumenical 
Patriarch on August 15, 2009, and, in an address to a 
wider gathering of minority religious leaders that day, 
concluded by stating, ‘‘We should not be of those who 
gather, talk, and disperse. A result should come out of 
this.’’; 
Whereas, during his visit to the United States in November 
2009, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I raised the 
issue of the continued closure of the Theological School 
of Halki with President Obama, congressional leaders, 
and others; 
Whereas, in a welcome development, for the first time since 
1922, the Government of Turkey in August 2010 allowed 
the liturgical celebration by the Ecumenical Patriarch at 
the historic Sumela Monastery; and 
Whereas, following a unanimous decision by the European 
Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2010, ruling 
that Turkey return the former Greek Orphanage on 
Buyukada Island to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the 
eve of the feast day of St. Andrew observed on November 
30, the Government of Turkey provided lawyers rep-
resenting the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the formal 
property title for the confiscated building: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) welcomes the historic meeting between 
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ecu-
menical Patriarch Bartholomew I; 
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