PAPAL GREETING TO CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA OF THE ARMENIANS

Zenit News Agency
Nov 24 2008
Italy

"Continue to Shape the Culture of Your Nation"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict
XVI delivered today when he presided at an ecumenical celebration
with Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians. A delegation
from the Catholicosate also participated in the event.

Aram I is on a visit to Rome that will include a pilgrimage to
St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.

* * *

Your Holiness,

With heartfelt affection in the Lord I greet you and the distinguished
members of your delegation on the occasion of your visit to the Church
of Rome. Our meeting today stands in continuity with the visit which
you made to my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II in January 1997,
and with the many other contacts and mutual visits which, by God’s
grace, have led in recent years to closer relations between the
Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In this year of Saint Paul, you will visit the tomb of the Apostle
of the Nations and pray with the monastic community at the basilica
erected to his memory. In that prayer, you will be united to the
great host of Armenian saints and martyrs, teachers and theologians,
whose legacy of learning, holiness and missionary achievements are
part of the patrimony of the whole Church. We think of Saint Nerses
Shnorkhali and Saint Nerses of Lambon who, as Bishop of Tarsus, was
known as "the second Paul of Tarsus". That testimony culminated in
the twentieth century, which proved a time of unspeakable suffering
for your people. The faith and devotion of the Armenian people have
been constantly sustained by the memory of the many martyrs who have
borne witness to the Gospel down the centuries. May the grace of that
witness continue to shape the culture of your nation and inspire in
Christ’s followers an ever greater trust in the saving and life-giving
power of the Cross.

The See of Cilicia has long been involved in encouraging positive
ecumenical contacts between the Churches. Indeed, the dialogue between
the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church has benefited
significantly from the presence of its Armenian delegates. We must
be hopeful that this dialogue will continue to move forward, since
it promises to clarify theological issues which have divided us in
the past but now appear open to greater consensus. I am confident
that the current work of the International Commission – devoted to
the theme: "The Nature, Constitution and Mission of the Church" –
will enable many of the specific issues of our theological dialogue
to find their proper context and resolution.

Surely the growth in understanding, respect and cooperation which has
emerged from ecumenical dialogue promises much for the proclamation
of the Gospel in our time. Throughout the world Armenians live
side by side with the faithful of the Catholic Church. An increased
understanding and appreciation of the apostolic tradition which we
share will contribute to an ever more effective common witness to the
spiritual and moral values without which a truly just and humane social
order cannot exist. For this reason, I trust that new and practical
means will be found to give expression to the common declarations we
have already signed.

Your Holiness, I cannot fail to assure you of my daily prayers and deep
concern for the people of Lebanon and the Middle East. How can we not
be grieved by the tensions and conflicts which continue to frustrate
all efforts to foster reconciliation and peace at every level of
civil and political life in the region? Most recently we have all
been saddened by the escalation of persecution and violence against
Christians in parts of the Middle East and elsewhere. Only when the
countries involved can determine their own destiny, and the various
ethnic groups and religious communities accept and respect each other
fully, will peace be built on the solid foundations of solidarity,
justice and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and
peoples.

With these sentiments and with affection in the Lord, I thank Your
Holiness for your visit, and I express my hope that these days spent
in Rome will be a source of many graces for you and for all those
entrusted to your pastoral care. Upon you and to all the faithful of
the Armenian Apostolic Church I invoke an abundance of joy and peace
in the Lord.