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: info@armenianorthodoxchurch.org
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version: nian.htm
Read the public statement here:
ferences/WCCMECC/eng.htm#4
INTERNATIONAL ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE
ON MIGRATION IN ANTELIAS
"RELIGIONS SHOULD PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ISSUES OF CONCERN TO OUR
SOCIETIES"
SAID CATHOLICOS ARAM I
IN HIS CONCLUDING REMARKS
The international ecumenical conference on migration, which was launched on
April 14 in Antelias, concluded its activities Wednesday afternoon.
Catholicos Aram I presided over the conference.
Addressing the attendants during the final session, the General Secretary of
the World Council of Churches (WCC), Dr. Sam Kobia, presented the statement
to be adopted by the conference, prepared by a special committee on the
basis of the delegates’ proposals and discussions. Dr. Kobia thanked the
Middle East Council of Churches, the conference’s organizing committee and
the delegates for their active participation. He also expressed special
gratitude to Catholicos Aram I, both for the hospitality demonstrated by the
Catholicosate of Cilicia and for the Pontiff’s valuable contribution on the
basis of his extensive ecumenical and interfaith experience.
Praising the conference organizers, the Pontiff stressed the importance of
discussing pan-humanitarian and shared concerns during such conferences.
"The issue of migration is not a religious issue or an issue pertaining to a
specific community or context. It is a human issue which is expressed in
different forms and has different implications in different environments.
Therefore, migration being a global issue and at the same time a local
issue, we need to develop both a global perspective and contextual
approach," he said.
>From an interfaith perspective, and particularly in a Muslim-Christian
environment, the Pontiff underlined that failing to integrate becomes a
dangerous phenomenon that leads to the birth of various forms of evil of
violence. "Integration is one of the critical issues that we are facing
today in many societies. Isolation could become a source of evil. All groups
living in one place, need to be integrated into a common life sustained by
shared values. We must move from co-existence to broader communities," the
Pontiff stressed.
The conference’s concluding session was chaired by the chairwoman of the
Catholicosate of Cilicia’s ecumenical committee, Dr. Nora-Bayrakdarian
Kabakian, who also addressed the conference delegates. Also speaking during
the sessions were Ibrahim Shamseddine (Shiite community), Member of the
Lebanese Parliament Dr. Farid Al-Khazen (member of the "Michelle Aoun" Bloc)
and the general Secretaries of WCC and MECC, Dr. Sam Kobia and Gerges Saleh
respectively.
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View the photos here:
tos/Photos245.htm
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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 Ecumenical
activities 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.