PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
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PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

BEIN G DIFFERENT IS GOD’S GIFT AND CALL

(Dialogue with the youth- Number 6)

It has been a consistent truth that when individuals and communities have
blindly affirmed their ‘difference’, they have generated religious, national
and cultural tensions. This exclusive behaviour has more times than not led
to alienation. We should avoid this sort of exclusive and alienating
behaviour. In fact, acknowledging diversity is an important aspect of
Christianity.

Diversity is manifest in God’s nature as Trinity and is an essential part
of His revelation and work. For Christians, therefore, diversity is a
profoundly important concept.

1) Diversity is God’s Gift. God created for us a world of diversity.
God-given diversity is sustained by coherence and interaction, wholeness and
integrity. Diversity, which is a dominant feature of the human race, has
produced identities and roots.

2) Diversity is God’s Call. God called people to be the steward of His
creation, to be His ‘co-worker’. What a distinct privilege, indeed. We are
called to witness the richness of diversity and preserve and enhance it for
the fulfilment of God’s design for humanity and creation.

Today we are living in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious
societies. As Armenian Christians how should we respond to God’s call to
preserve and protect diversity? The direction we should take to deal
responsibly with pluralism in the context of our Christian
self-understanding and vocation is clear, we must:

a) Affirm our identity. Roots shape identity, ensure continuity, safeguard
integrity and give security. Because identity is not only a social necessity
but also a vital dimension of human existence and self-understanding, in
order to occupy a specific place in human society, we must remain faithful
to our identity. In order to give substance and meaning to our life, we must
attach ourselves firmly to those values, traditions and beliefs that
constitute our specific identity.

b) Respect the other’s identity. While we should remain faithful to our
identity, we must respect the other’s identity. Affirming our identity does
not mean becoming its prisoner. The other is not our enemy; he or she is our
neighbour, our fellow human being. Hence, we do not have the right, under
any circumstances, to impose our values and reject those of the other.
Mutual respect and mutual acceptance must determine the way we treat each
other.

c) Understand ourselves in relation to the other. The globalised and
interdependent world of today compels us to broaden our sense of identity. I
am because you are, and you are because I am; we are, indeed,
interconnected. Self-centred and self-contained identity breed intolerance.
When we recognize the values of the other, we gain strength and become
responsive to the challenges of our times.

d) Work towards deepening common values. Living together with others as a
community means that our values and perspectives, our traditions and beliefs
are in harmony with the other. Living together may produce harmonious
community in one place; yet, in other place, it may engender fragmentation.
Therefore, we must commit ourselves to a dialogue of values; we must also
deepen the core values rooted in our belief systems, in our cultures and our
common humanity.

e) Learn to live as a community of diversities. God not only created us to
be different, He also called us to live together peacefully with our
differences. This is precisely the Christian understanding of community
which implies diversity. When diversities creatively interact, then
community is built; when diversities collide, then community is destroyed.
Societies cannot progress without diversities. And the community is enriched
and strengthened by reconciled diversities.*

In our ‘global village’, we have become global citizens; we have become
interdependent. We are no longer strangers; we are neighbours. We share many
things with our fellow human beings. We have commonalities, but we also have
differences. Because God created us different, we must respect the other’s
right to be different. Rejecting the other as an expression of our
faithfulness to our values and identity will polarize us and lead to
violence. By rejecting the other, we deny his or her humanity. Rejection
creates exclusiveness and exclusiveness fragments the community. Our
differences must interact, not collide; they must lead us to dialogue, not
isolation. We must transform living together into a source of mutual
responsibility and accountability.

The Armenian people have a long and rich experience of living together
with others. Interaction with our environment has fostered our resolve to
preserve our identity. It has also helped us to broaden our perspectives,
enhance our knowledge and enrich our experience. Indeed, the very fact that
a church of apostolic origin, the Armenian Church, and an ancient people,
the Armenian people, have survived the upheavals and vicissitudes of history
is an eloquent testimony to the courage, openness and commitment to live as
community in the midst of diversities. The same vision should guide us
today. The youth have a pivotal role to play in this respect.

ARAM I

CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA
5 November 2006
Antelias-Lebanon

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* I have elaborated some of these thoughts in my new book, For a Church
beyond its walls, which is under publication.