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The Patriarch Presides Over The Spiritual Council

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  • The Patriarch Presides Over The Spiritual Council

    LRAPER Church Bulletin
    Contact: Deacon Vagarsag Seropyan
    Armenian Patriarchate
    TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
    T: +90 (212) 517-0970
    F: +90 (212) 516-4833
    [email protected]
    www.lraper.org


    THE PATRIARCH PRESIDES OVER THE SPIRITUAL COUNCIL

    The Patriarchal Spiritual Council in Istanbul convened on 24 June 2005, at
    10:00 hours, with His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul
    and All Turkey, presiding. His Grace Bishop Aram Ateshian chaired the
    meeting.

    The Fathers of the Holy Council acknowledged receipt of the minutes of the
    annual plenary conventions held by the church choir associations of the
    Armenian parishes of Samatya, Uskudar, Narlikapi, Besiktas, Ferikoy,
    Yesilkoy, Kurucesme, Beyoglu, Taksim, Bakirkoy, Kumkapi, Kadikoy, Gedikpasa,
    Buyukdere, Princes' Islands, Boyacikoy and Galata districts and approved
    their 2004 budget reports.

    Concerning the case of the Revd. Fr. Varujan Terterian, the pastor of St.
    John the Baptist Armenian Church of Crete, who has been divorced from his
    wife by the civil court in Etchmiadzin, Armenia, the Fathers of the Holy
    Council, in the light of the Holy Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:4-5, 7, 12) and
    considering socio-ecclesial concerns, decided to free him of his pastoral
    position in Crete, returning him to the jurisdiction of the Mother See of
    Holy Etchmiadzin where he had been ordained as a married priest in 1996.

    The Fathers of the Holy Council decided to request from His Beatitude the
    Patriarch to set up a new commission to investigate the condition of the
    cemeteries that belong to Armenian church parishes in the suburbs of the
    metropolis of Istanbul. The state of the Armenian cemetery in Halicioglu
    (Haskoy) was also discussed, expressing the need for a chapel in that
    district, since St. Stephen's Armenian Church of the Haskoy Parish and the
    Holy Mother-of-God Chapel of the Kalfayan Sisters were confiscated and
    demolished by the civic authorities in 1972 in order to build the intercity
    road leading to the Bosphorus Bridge.

    His Beatitude the Patriarch asked the Holy Council to prepare a plenary
    meeting of the Brotherhood of the Patriarchal See and the married clergymen
    in order to discuss certain liturgical practices that need to be addressed.

    The Patriarch further instructed that a circular letter be sent to the
    church choirs under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Patriarchal See,
    directing them not to omit the word `holy' in the reference to the Holy
    Church of Christ while the Nicene Creed is sung whilst the Hours, the
    Sacraments or the Divine Liturgy is offered. The Patriarch reminded the Holy
    Council that one of the four attributes of the One, Apostolic, Catholic and
    Holy Church is her holiness. The proper sentence in the Creed as received
    from the Fathers of the Church is as follows: `We believe also in only one,
    universal and apostolic holy Church' (Havadamk yev i mi miayn unthanragan
    yev arakelagan surp yegeghetsi).

    The Patriarch also reported to the Fathers of the Holy Council his
    impressions of the pilgrimages to Pergamon and Kayseri, the inter-faith
    dialogue meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden.

    The Fathers of the Holy Council also deliberated on the pilgrimages to St.
    George's Armenian Church in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and St. Thaddeus Monastery in
    Magou, Iran, which the Patriarch prepares to undertake upon invitations
    received from the Primates of the local dioceses of the Armenian Church.
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