ADDRESS OF CATHOLICOS ARAM I

25 January 1997

I offer Your Holiness fraterna! greetings in this centre of faìth and Christian witness. I am pleased to be in this blessed place, a place of reflection and meeting, a place of initiatives aimed at bringing Christs Gospel to humanity authentically and effec­tively. This is not my first visit to the Vatican. I was here in 1983 beside my predecessor during his offi­cia! visit. In 1986 I took part in the ecumenica! prayers of the Day for Peace you organized in Assisi. I also visited the Holy See to take part in various ecu­menica! meetings and today I bave come as Catholi­cos of Cilicia.

Your Holiness,

I come from the historic see of the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia; a see which follows the paths of the tragic and heroic life of our people and our Church; a see that was a living witness to the cross and resurrection of our people; a see that was the eloquent expression of the ecumeni­cal spirit of the Armenian Church from Cilicia to Lebanon. In fact, since the time of the Crusades and with a spirit of openness and ecumenical rapproche­ment, the Catholicosate of Cilicia has established fra­ternal relations with the Church of Rome. Shaped by a rich experience of the past and strengthened by a renewed faith and a deeply ecumenical vision, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia offers its witness in very different contexts and in a very changed world.

I come from the Armenian diaspora, a reality that our people did not choose but which was imposed upon them; a reality laden with the experiences of our contemporary history, a history of massacres and deportations. But thanks to God and thanks to the devoted commitment of our Church, the Armenians scattered to the four corners of the world have remained firmly attached to their faith, preserving their traditions and their Christian values and main­taining their own national identity. Our Church's mis­sion has been and continues to be decisive in the organization and maintenance of this diaspora. The very composition of the delegation accompanying me: diocesan Archbishops and Bishops, ministers and members of parliament from different countries, is in itself an eloquent witness to the important role played by the Armenian Church and most particu­larly by the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.

I come from the Middle East where the Armenian Church has an important place and a specific role. Well integrated into Middle Eastern societies, together with other Churches and religions, our Church with her faithful faces the challenges, prob­lems and prospects of the region. She struggles for a just, total and lasting peace for the entire region. She is sincerely involved in an existential dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters with whom we share a common life. Our faithful also actively participate in all the efforts and initiatives which strive for the respect of human rights and the legitimate right of peoples to self-determination.

I come from Lebanon, from this land "of milk and honey", which was a land of hope and freedom for our people after the atrocious massacres. We are grateful for the warm welcome of our brothers and sisters, Christians and Muslims. In Lebanon we have become Lebanese and active members of the great Lebanese family. We remain firmly attached to this country, to its freedom, its unity, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity. We are convinced that true and total reconciliation, backed by a sincere Christ­ian-Islamic dialogue and total respect for freedom in all areas, is the basis of Lebanon’s strength and iden­tity. Here, allow me to recall and to affirm that Your Holiness continues to be a great friend to Lebanon. Not only have you suffered with Lebanon in the dark­est days of its history, not only have you prayed, but you have also constantly laboured for this country, reminding the great international family at the world level of the just cause of Lebanon, a country of dia­logue par excellence and a living "message".

I also come from the ecumenical world; a world where I received my second baptism; a world which taught me in an existential way the vital or rather the urgent need for the unity of the Church; a world so close to your heart, your thoughts and pastoral voca­tion. As you know, since 1991 I have been serving the ecumenical movement as moderator of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches. I believe that in the world today ecu­menism is one of the most essential dimensions of the Church’s life. The ecumenical movement reminds our Churches of the priority of their unity and the Church’s raison d'être, which is nothing other than a common witness for humanity’s salvation.

I do not come from Armenia, but I bring Armenia with me here and Nagorno-Karabakh with their suf­fering and their faith, their determination and their hope. By my priestly vocation and my pastoral com­mitment I serve the Armenian nation and so also Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. A month ago you welcomed in this same room my predecessor in the see of the Catholicosate of Cilicia and the present Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin I. Moved by a fraternal spirit of co-operation, the two Catholicosate sees are working in service to the same Armenian Church, but in different circumstances and contexts.

These are the experiences, dimensions and varied perspectives which, in my person, the Catholicosate of Cilicia represents today.

Your Holiness,

We are living in a period of human history when isolation is being replaced by closeness, monologue by dialogue, and confrontation by co-operation. It is also a period when poverty, injustice, violence and the degradation of ethical and spiritual values are sweeping through our societies with an unprece­dented force. The Church cannot and does not remain indifferent to this estrangement of humanity from God and the demands of the Gospel. Despite their theological, ecclesiological and dogmatic differences, despite their ethnic and cultural diversities, the Churches must act together; through their efforts towards full communion and a more effective com­mon witness, they must guide humanity to reconcili­ation, justice and peace, and in this way to God's kingdom proclaimed by Jesus Christ.

We meet, dear Brother in Jesus Christ, in the Week of Prayer far Christian Unity. What a magnificent occasion for reaffirming our commitment to working together for full communion between the Churches.

I am convinced that this meeting will be an important factor in reinforcing the fraternal ties that bind us as well as in deepening and expanding the relations and ecumenical collaboration between the Church of Rome and the Catholicosate of Cilicia.

I pray to almighty God that he may grant you full health and long life, so that you can continue your witness to this spirit and this ecumenical collabora­tion which, by your pastoral commitment, have acquired so rich an expression for the glory of the Blessed Trinity and the unity of God's Church.

[Information Service  95 (1997/II-III) 79-80]