Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
A LECTURE ABOUT THE WCC 9TH ASSEMBLY IS DELIVERED IN THE SEMINARY
A lecture entitled “The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (14-23
February 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil): An Attempt to Evaluate” was organized
in the Seminary of the Catholicosate of Cilicia on the evening of March 10.
Sub-deacon Hagop Kortmossian talked about the 9th Assembly of WCC and the
ecumenical movement in general during his opening remarks.
The keynote speaker was Bishop Nareg Alemezian (Ecumenical Officer) who
briefly explained the timeliness of the Assembly’s main theme (God, in your
Grace, transform the world) particularly in light of the unconstructive
political and social conditions of the current world. He also spoke about
the course of the Assembly and the main topics discussed during its
sessions, focusing on the leading of His Holiness Aram I as the Assembly’s
chairman and the contribution of the Catholicosate’s large delegation.
“A responsible and conscious participation in the ecumenical movement, the
World Council of Churches, the Middle East Council of Churches and others
such organizations is essential and is conditioned by reading, studying and
having the necessary formation,” Bishop Alemezian said.
“Our father, His Holiness Aram I is the tangible example of this statement.
His Holiness opened up to ecumenical life starting in the 1970s and due to
his pursuant efforts he reached the high post of the moderator of WCC, which
he occupied with great capability during the last 15 years. It’s not enough
to be justly proud of our Catholicos; we are obligated to follow his steps
and bring our contribution to the mission of our Church the Cilician Holy
See and the Seminary,” he concluded.
Rev. Fr. Housig Mardirossian (Staff-bearer), a member of the Cilician
delegation to the Assembly, also spoke during the event relating his
experiences as a participant in the sessions and emphasizing the role of the
youth in the ecumenical movement.
Bishop Alemezian and Rev. Fr. Mardirossian then answered the questions of
the students.
V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian delivered the closing remarks, thanking the two
speakers on behalf of the Seminary’s administration and assuring the
commitment of the students to the ecumenical movement as an important source
of enrichment and opening up to other churches.
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View photos here: tm
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Theological
Seminary of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.