PRESS OFFICE
Department of Communications
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 160; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: jakeg@armeniandiocese.org
Website:

February 2, 2007
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ARMENIAN CHURCH JOINS ORIENTAL ORTHODOX SISTERS FOR MEETINGS WITH CATHOLIC
LEADERS

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,
has appointed Archbishop Mesrob Krikorian, Pontifical Legate to Central
Europe, and Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), as the permanent representatives of
the Armenian Church in the ongoing dialogue. The two bishops are currently
at the Vatican participating in the fourth set of meetings.

During the week-long session, Archbishop Barsamian and the other religious
leaders met with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. During the audience, the
Primate conveyed the warm greetings and good wishes of Catholicos Karekin
II. The Pope, in return, asked the Archbishop to convey his brotherly love
and greetings to the Catholicos.

The sessions in Rome have included papers and talks on a number of issues.
Archbishop Barsamian presented a paper titled: "Mission, Witness, Service
and the Problem of Proselytism."

In his remarks, the Primate spoke about the "contemporary" problem of
proselytism. He addressed concerns from some Oriental Orthodox Churches
that efforts by the Catholic Church can be "perceived – whether rightly or
wrongly – as encroachments, endeavors on the part of the stronger to engulf
the weaker."

The Primate stressed that Christian churches share a common devotion to
Christ. Instead of competing, he said, churches should work together to
spread the word of Christ.

"There should be no attempts to encourage Christians who belong to a church
to change their adherence," he said. "Such efforts to proselytize diminish
trust in the common mission and witness of the church, making it a divided
mission and witness: one mission and witness for Christians of other
persuasions, and another mission and witness for non-Christians."

A full-text PDF version of the Primate’s remarks can be found on the
Diocesan website here:
rsamianRome.pdf.

— 2/2/06

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