B.C. Catholic Newspaper, Canada
March 24 2006
Pope encourages unity of Armenian Christians
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Armenian Orthodox
and Catholics, who trace their origins back to St. Gregory the
Illuminator, to work to restore their unity in one community united
with the pope.
Meeting March 20 with members of the synod of the Armenian Catholic
Church and nearly 200 Armenian Catholic pilgrims, the pope praised
the ecumenical initiatives undertaken by the Armenian Catholic
patriarchate, based in Beirut, Lebanon, and the Armenian Apostolic
Church, an ancient and independent Oriental Orthodox Church that in
recent years has improved its relations with the Vatican.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the dominant religious denomination
in Armenia, claiming a membership of more than 90 million people.
“I encourage this new-found fraternity and collaboration, hoping that
from it there would arise new initiatives for a common path toward
full unity,” the pope told the group led by Patriarch Nerses Bedros
XIX Tarmouni of Beirut, the Armenian Catholic patriarch.
Pope Benedict praised the faith of Armenian Christians who have
shared the trials Armenians faced throughout the centuries,
“particularly the sufferings endured in the name of the Christian
faith in the years of terrible persecution recorded in history with
the sadly significant name of ‘metz yeghern,'” or “the great
massacre,” in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks in 1915-18.
Armenians, persecuted by the Ottoman Turks and in the former Soviet
Union, ended up fleeing to other countries, which further split the
Christian community.
Pope Benedict said, “If historic events led to the fragmentation of
the Armenian church, divine providence will ensure that one day it
will be united with its hierarchy in fraternal harmony and in full
communion with the bishop of Rome.”
He encouraged Armenians to work and pray for the day when there will
be “one flock under one shepherd.”