PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
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HIS HOLINESS ARAM I DECLARES 2010 YEAR OF THE ARMENIAN WOMEN
On Sunday 10 January 2010, after the Liturgy at St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral in Antelias, Archbishop Komitas Ohanian read the Encyclical Letter
of His Holiness Aram I, declaring 2010 Year of Armenian Women.
The letter is an invitation to Armenian men and women to reassess the role
of women in the family and society. In his Encyclical, His Holiness Aram I
refers to Biblical, historical and contemporary reflections that make it
imperative that we reassess the roles of women and men in society. According
to the Bible, he writes, God created men and women in His image, after His
likeness (Genesis 1:26); therefore, he explains, women and men are equal in
the eyes of God and partners in caring for the created world. His Holiness
further notes that in the New Testament, the ‘New Eve’, Mary the Mother of
God, plays an important role in the history of salvation.
The Encyclical then refers to Armenian history, where many women contributed
to the survival of the nation and to its spiritual and cultural renaissance
by assuming political responsibilities through martyrdom and sainthood, as
writers, educators, social workers and mothers.
His Holiness bases his reflection on important events and documents of the
United Nations and the Ecumenical Movement. He cites the achievements of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Decade for Women and
International Conferences since 1976 and the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the UN General Assembly
(1979). In the Ecumenical Movement he mentions the Ecumenical Decade of the
Churches in Solidarity with Women 1988-1998, which deplored violence against
women at home and in society and the Decade to Overcome Violence.
His Holiness concludes his Encyclical letter by calling upon all Armenians
to reconsider the nature of women-men partnership in the Armenian community,
its organizations and the family, in view of the moral values taught by the
Church and internationally endorsed documents.
This Encyclical letter will be read in all Armenian Churches in the
forthcoming weeks, and will become a study document both in Church bodies
and civil society organizations.
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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 history and
the mission 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.