Contact: John C. Ackerman
Committee Member; Friends of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
TEL.: (309) 635-7624
EMAIL: John@JohnCAckerman.com
GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF CHICAGO AND FRIENDS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE FROM PEORIA HOST RECEPTION TO HONOR THE SPONSORS OF SR70
Chicago: The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago along with the Friends of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from Peoria, a committee working under the guidance of His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, was pleased to host a special reception for the Illinois State Senators that sponsored and co-sponsored a major resolution passed earlier this year in the Illinois State Senate supporting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The reception took place on Saturday, October 12, at the Vines on Clark in Wrigleville, Chicago.
Illinois State Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington, who was the main sponsor of the resolution which was identified as SR70, along with State Senators and Resolution Co-Sponsors Patricia Van Pelt Watkins of Chicago and Mike Frerichs of Champaign joined His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, the members of the Friends of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from Peoria committee and several parish clergy and laity members for an evening of fellowship.
Illinois Senate Resolution 70 (SR70) passed the Illinois State Senate on May 31, 2013, with unanimous support and with 42 out of the 59 Illinois State Senators Sponsoring or Co-Sponsoring the resolution. SR70 also gained the endorsement of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, United States Senator from Illinois Richard Durbin, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Chicago, the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, OMI.
Together with the previous passage of the resolution in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2007, Illinois now joins an initiative of the Order of Saint Andrew (Archons) to gain resolutions in support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in light of its presence in Turkey nationwide. The state resolutions call for the Turkish government to loosen restrictions and return confiscated properties to the spiritual home of Greek Orthodox Christians around the world, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), respecting the religious freedom of the Orthodox Christian minority of Turkey. With the addition this year of the State of Illinois, 42 out of the 50 states have passed these resolutions, raising the national attention this important issue has received.
Shortly after passage in the Illinois State Senate, His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos along with two members of the Friends of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from Peoria Committee where honored to travel to Constantinople and personally hand Illinois Senate Resolution 70 and a similar Resolution from the City of Chicago to His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.
Held at the Vines on Clark in Wrigleville, Chicago, this great evening was made possible through the contribution of George and Patty Loukas of Chicago (Proprietors of the Vines on Clark).
