PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: ktrij@etchmiadzin.am
May 12, 2008
First Message of His Holiness KAREKIN II, Catholicos of All Armenians,
To the faithful during the meeting with
His Holiness BENEDICT XVI, Pope of the Catholic Church
Vatican City, 07 May 2008
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We offer thanks to our Lord, Who gave us the opportunity through Your
Holiness’ kind invitation to visit once more the eternal city of Rome
and the Holy See of the Catholic Church. We have come from the
spiritual center and headquarters of the Holy Armenian Apostolic
Church – the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with our high-ranking
clergymen and our pious and worthy sons and daughters, and through our
fraternal embrace with Your Holiness, we testify to the divinely
ordained love between the Catholic and Armenian Churches, which `¦is
poured into our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.’
(Romans 5:5)
Dear Brother in Christ, today, on the threshold of the Feast of
Pentecost, when we unite our prayers to those of Your Holiness and of
your faithful sons and daughters, we praise and glorify the Holy
Spirit, Who is the fountainhead of unity and transforms our steps on
the paths of brotherhood with grace – steps which are for the glory of
God and are born from the love of Christ, for the sake of establishing
peace in the world and a blessed life for mankind. In spite of
different historical experiences and paths we have traversed; in spite
of dogmatic and cultural divergences, we are all children of the one
God, and we are all brothers and sisters in His Holy love. For in our
diversity, it is our unity of love that is the genuine testimony that
we are children of God.
Intolerance and confrontation must not be allowed within the
brotherhood and love of Christ. Mankind has suffered much as a
result. Today as n of God – the world that surrounds us – is imperiled
through interfaith disagreements, through wars and terrorism, through
the effects of poverty and neglect. Our brothers and sisters are in
distress in the Middle East and many other regions of the world; where
women and children, the elderly and disabled are endangered by the
blows of disagreement and division, unjust competition and
enmity. This is not the Will of God. This is not our calling. We
aspire to live a life in peace, of creation and creativity, to use the
graces given to us by the Holy Spirit, to serve the establishment of
unity and solidarity with the love of Jesus Christ and the message of
the Gospel, since `for those that love God, all things work together
unto good.’ (Romans 8:28)
We Armenians are a people who have survived genocide, and we know well
the value of love, brotherhood, friendship, peace and a secure
life. Today, many countries of the world recognize and condemn the
Genocide committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey, as
did the Holy See, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II of blessed memory
during our fraternal visit to Rome in 2000. Offering prayers to his
luminous memory, we as Pontiff of the Armenians, appeal to all nations
and lands to universally condemn all genocides that have occurred
throughout history and those that continue through the present day, so
that those who yield power and authority realize their
responsibilities and results of those crimes which have been and
continue to be committed against the creation of God, and that the
denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals the commission of
the same.
At this joyous moment of prayer, our sincere appeal to our Lord in
heaven is that He keep our planet unshaken with harmony, brotherhood
and reconciliation among peoples.. May Almighty God keep our two
Churches under his watchful and benevolent gaze in steadfast
friendship, protecting Your Holiness under His All-Provident Right
Hand, granting you many long years of blessed reign to lea the
Catholic Church with your vision and characteristic wisdom, `to green
pastures¦ and to the still waters¦’ (Psalms 23)
May the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now
and always. Amen.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress