ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 12 2007
Message of His Holiness Garegin II at the Jefferson Memorial
12.10.2007 10:36
Speaking at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., His Hliness
Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, said:
`It is our pleasure to be here today in Washington, standing before
this monument which honors Thomas Jefferson, third president of the
United States, founding father, author of the Declaration of
Independence and architect of the Virginia Statute of Religious
Freedom.
We are happy to be joined today by our ecumenical and interfaith
brothers, representing different Christian Churches and various
faiths, and extend to you all our greetings and best wishes from the
center of our faith – the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
During our pontifical visit to the Armenian Church Diocese of the
United States, we wished to visit the capital city of this blessed
land, to meet and pray with members of our community, and to express
our appreciation to the caring American people and authorities,
because it was the `land of the free and the home of the brave’ that
opened its hospitable doors and embraced our sons and daughters
fleeing the first genocide of the 20th century, perpetrated by the
Ottoman Empire on the Armenian population living on the territory of
their historical homeland.
America gave the children of our nation shelter, refuge, opportunity
and freedom to re-find its Christ-bestowed strength, stand upright
once again, create and contribute greatly to the building of the
civic, social, economic, cultural and political life in their adopted
new world.
We thank the United States for also giving to my people all
opportunity and freedom to openly practice their ancient Christian
faith, to build churches and schools, to create and make abundant
their national and spiritual life, and to avail themselves of all
rights and liberties afforded to all religious and ethnic minorities
in America.
As the head of the Armenian Church and representative of my Armenian
sons and daughters, we are proud that our people have lived
peacefully and fruitfully in the midst of societies and countries
whose predominant faith was not our own. Where we have had that
freedom, as we do in the United States, we have flourished. When that
freedom has been curtailed, stifled and oppressed, we have suffered.
In our daily lives, we are graced by the Almighty to witness the
fruits of religious freedom. In the past few years alone, we have
been blessed to receive in Armenia and Holy Etchmiadzin the Chief
Rabbi of Israel, the Chief Mufti of Syria and members of the Buddhist
and Hindu faiths. Last month we had the pleasure to host the Lord
Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as the Executive Committee of the
World Council of Churches, and offer our combined prayers to heaven,
asking for peace and reconciliation for all peoples. Perhaps the most
memorable ecumenical events in the recent history of our Church were
the pilgrimages of Ecumenical Patriarch His All Holiness Bartholomew
I, Russian Orthodox Patriarch His Holiness Alexei II and Roman
Catholic Pope His Holiness John Paul II to Armenia in 2001, when our
Church and people were celebrating 1700 years of official
Christianity in Armenia.
Today, in our small country of Armenia, where more than 95% of our
citizens are members of our Mother Church, more than 60 different
religious organizations are legally registered and operate free of
any restriction to practice their faith. We have sought to ensure the
rights of all of these religious organizations and respect their
beliefs. In 1960, President John Kennedy said, `Tolerance implies no
lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs; rather it condemns the
oppression or persecution of others.’ This is the model which we hope
all countries in our region of the world will adopt.
Praise and glory to God, that we have insured religious freedom in
our country without sacrificing the ancient Christian heritage and
dignity of our Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, for we must be
conscious that in granting religious freedom to all and to the new,
we do not reduce the rights of the one or the established. Religious
freedom must not become the great leveler of religious relativity,
but must be a resounding affirmation of the free pursuit of faith.
Lasting regional stability, elimination of conflict, poverty, crime
and tragedy can only be established when we learn to respect each
other enough to allow for the diversity of ideas and beliefs, and
when faith is allowed to flourish for the good of mankind and in
service to the peaceful co-existence of all nations.
Thomas Jefferson said, `I like the dreams of the future better than
the history of the past’. Let us pray for a world filled with both
dreams AND history: Dreams to see mankind prosperous, free and
secure; combined with the history of Christian morality and national
values leading humanity to greater and greater heights.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord be with us and with all.
Amen.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
