MO HR1365

Orthodox Christian Church has approximately 300 million members worldwide and over 2 million in the United States, with the Ecumenical Patriarchate located in Turkey since 1453

Orthodox Christian population in Turkey has declined from millions at the turn of the 20th century to fewer than 3,000 today

Missouri House urges the Turkish government to uphold religious and human rights of all citizens without compromise and to grant the Ecumenical Patriarch appropriate international recognition and ecclesiastical succession

House calls on Turkey to allow training of clergy of all nationalities and to respect property rights and human rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and all religious and faith traditions

Chief Clerk of the Missouri House is directed to prepare an officially inscribed copy of the resolution