ZE09102711 – 2009-10-27
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Po pe to Armenian Patriarch: May We Grow in Unity
Greets Karekin II on 10th Anniversary of Election
By Mirko Testa
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Relations between the
Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church are enjoying a
fruitful stage, and Benedict XVI is hoping the two churches will
continue to grow in unity.
The Pope wrote this in a message sent to Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, on the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of his election.
In his message, the Holy Father thanked Karekin II for his "personal
commitment to dialogue, cooperation and friendship between the
Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church. I pray that the
good relations that have been established between us may continue to
grow in the years ahead."
"The recovery of liberty of the Church in Armenia at the end of the
last century brought joy to all Christians worldwide," wrote the Pope,
recalling also that "the immense task of reconstruction of the
ecclesial community fell on the shoulders of your Holiness."
>From 1915 to 1922, the Young Turks — an ultra-nationalist secular
movement that took power in Turkey — exterminated Armenian Christians
for ethnic and religious reasons. Of a population of some 2.6 million
Armenians in the then dying Ottoman Empire, almost 1.5 million were
killed.
In his message, the Pope expresses his joy over "the flowering of new
initiatives for the Christian education of young people, the formation
of the clergy, the creation of new parishes, the construction of new
churches and community centers, as well as the promotion of Christian
values in the social and cultural life of the nation."
Benedict XVI concluded the message with a prayer: "That we may be ever
more closely united in the sacred bond of Christian faith, hope and
love."
The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of six ancient Oriental Orthodox
Churches. The other churches include the Orthodox Coptic Patriarchate
of Egypt, the Syro-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Orthodox
Church of Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, and the
Syro-Orthodox Church of Malankar.
These Churches separated from Rome after the Fourth Ecumenical Council
of Chalcedon in 451, over controversy arising from the council’s
adoption of the Christological terminology of two natures in one
person.
A decisive step to overcome this division was taken in 1996, when Pope
John Paul II and Patriarch Karekin I signed a joint declaration to
dissipate "many of the misunderstandings inherited from the
controversies and disagreements of the past."
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