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Vatican Radio, The Vatican
May 9 2008
Pope Speaks of Immense Task of Rebuilding Church in Armenia
(09 May 08- RV) Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with Catholicos Karekin,
Patriarch of All Armenia.
The two men met ahead of an ecumenical service, presided over by Pope
Benedict which saw the participation of members of the Armenian Church
travelling with the Patriarch.
During the ceremony held in the Clementine hall of the Apostolic
Palace, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the following discourse:
Your Holiness,
Dear Brothers in Christ,
It is with heartfelt joy that I welcome Your Holiness, and the
distinguished delegation accompanying you. I cordially greet the
prelates, priests and lay-people who represent the worldwide family of
the Catholicosate of All Armenians. We come together in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who promised his disciples that `where two or
three are gathered in my name, I am there among them' (Mt 18:20). May
the spirit of brotherly love and service, which Jesus taught to his
disciples, enlighten our hearts and minds, as we exchange our
greetings, hold our conversations and gather in prayer.
I gratefully recall the visits of Catholicos Vasken I and Catholicos
Karekin I to the Church of Rome, and their cordial relations with my
venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Their
striving for Christian unity opened a new era in relations between
us. I recall with particular joy Your Holiness' visit to Rome in 2000
and your meeting with Pope John Paul II. The ecumenical liturgy in the
Vatican Basilica, celebrating the gift of a relic of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator, was one of the most memorable events of the Great Jubilee
in Rome. Pope John Paul II returned that visit by travelling to
Armenia in 2001, where You graciously hosted him at Holy
Etchmiadzin. The warm welcome you gave him on that occasion further
increased his esteem and respect for the Armenian people. The
Eucharist celebrated by Pope John Paul II on the great outdoor altar,
within the enclosure of Holy Etchmiadzin, was a further sign of
growing mutual acceptance, in expectation of the day when we will be
able to celebrate together at the one table of the Lord.
Tomorrow evening, each of us, in our respective traditions, will begin
the liturgical celebration of Pentecost. Fifty days after the
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will pray earnestly to the
Father, asking him to send his Holy Spirit, the Spirit whose task it
is to maintain us in divine love and lead us into all truth. We will
pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church. On Pentecost
day, it was the Holy Spirit who created from the many languages of the
crowds assembled in Jerusalem one single voice to profess the
faith. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the Church's unity. The
path towards the restoration of full and visible communion among all
Christians may seem long and arduous. Much remains to be done to heal
the deep and painful divisions that disfigure Christ's Body. The Holy
Spirit, however, continues to guide the Church in surprising and often
unexpected ways. He can open doors that are locked, inspire words that
have been forgotten, heal relations that are broken. If our hearts and
minds are open to the Spirit of communion, God can work miracles again
in the Church, restoring the bonds of unity. Striving for Christian
unity is an act of obedient trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, who
leads the Church to the full realization of the Father's plan, in
conformity with the will of Christ.
The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church has been written
in the contrasting colours of persecution and martyrdom, darkness and
hope, humiliation and spiritual re-birth. Your Holiness and the
members of your delegation have personally lived through these
contrasting experiences in your families and in your own lives. The
restoration of freedom to the Church in Armenia has been a source of
great joy for us all. An immense task of rebuilding the Church has
been laid on your shoulders. I cannot but voice my great esteem for
the remarkable pastoral results that have been achieved in such a
short time, both in Armenia and abroad, for the Christian education of
young people, for the training of new clergy, for building new
churches and community centres, for charitable assistance to those in
need, and for promoting Christian values in social and cultural
life. Thanks to your pastoral leadership, the glorious light of Christ
shines again in Armenia and the saving words of the Gospel can be
heard once more. Of course, you are still facing many challenges on
the social, cultural and spiritual levels. In this regard, I must
mention the recent difficulties suffered by the people of Armenia, and
I express the prayerful support of the Catholic Church in their search
for justice and peace and the promotion of the common good.
In our ecumenical dialogue, important progress has been made in
clarifying the doctrinal controversies that have traditionally divided
us, particularly over questions of Christology. During the last five
years, much has been achieved by the Joint Commission for Theological
Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox
Churches, of which the Catholicosate of All Armenians is a full
member. I thank Your Holiness for the support given to the work of the
Joint Commission and for the valuable contribution made by your
representatives. We pray that its activity will bring us closer to
full and visible communion, and that the day will come when our unity
in faith makes possible a common celebration of the Eucharist. Until
that day, the bonds between us are best consolidated and extended by
agreements on pastoral issues, in line with the degree of doctrinal
agreement already attained. Only when sustained by prayer and
supported by effective cooperation, can theological dialogue lead to
the unity that the Lord wishes for his disciples.
Your Holiness, dear friends: in the twelfth century, Nerses of Lambron
addressed a group of Armenian Bishops. He concluded his famous Synodal
Discourse on the restoration of Christian unity with visionary words,
that still affect us today: `You are not wrong, Venerable Fathers: it
is meritorious to weep over days past in discord. However, today is
the day that the Lord has made, a day of gladness and joy (¦) Let
us then pray in order that our Lord give tenderness, sweetness in
greater abundance still, and that He develop on earth, by the dew of
the Holy Spirit, this seed; perhaps, thanks to His power may we also
produce fruits; so that we may restore the peace of the Church of
Christ today in intention, tomorrow in fact'. This is also my
prayerful wish on the occasion of your visit. I thank you most warmly
and assure you of my deep affection in the Lord.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/A rticolo.asp?c4385
May 9 2008
Pope Speaks of Immense Task of Rebuilding Church in Armenia
(09 May 08- RV) Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with Catholicos Karekin,
Patriarch of All Armenia.
The two men met ahead of an ecumenical service, presided over by Pope
Benedict which saw the participation of members of the Armenian Church
travelling with the Patriarch.
During the ceremony held in the Clementine hall of the Apostolic
Palace, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the following discourse:
Your Holiness,
Dear Brothers in Christ,
It is with heartfelt joy that I welcome Your Holiness, and the
distinguished delegation accompanying you. I cordially greet the
prelates, priests and lay-people who represent the worldwide family of
the Catholicosate of All Armenians. We come together in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who promised his disciples that `where two or
three are gathered in my name, I am there among them' (Mt 18:20). May
the spirit of brotherly love and service, which Jesus taught to his
disciples, enlighten our hearts and minds, as we exchange our
greetings, hold our conversations and gather in prayer.
I gratefully recall the visits of Catholicos Vasken I and Catholicos
Karekin I to the Church of Rome, and their cordial relations with my
venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Their
striving for Christian unity opened a new era in relations between
us. I recall with particular joy Your Holiness' visit to Rome in 2000
and your meeting with Pope John Paul II. The ecumenical liturgy in the
Vatican Basilica, celebrating the gift of a relic of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator, was one of the most memorable events of the Great Jubilee
in Rome. Pope John Paul II returned that visit by travelling to
Armenia in 2001, where You graciously hosted him at Holy
Etchmiadzin. The warm welcome you gave him on that occasion further
increased his esteem and respect for the Armenian people. The
Eucharist celebrated by Pope John Paul II on the great outdoor altar,
within the enclosure of Holy Etchmiadzin, was a further sign of
growing mutual acceptance, in expectation of the day when we will be
able to celebrate together at the one table of the Lord.
Tomorrow evening, each of us, in our respective traditions, will begin
the liturgical celebration of Pentecost. Fifty days after the
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will pray earnestly to the
Father, asking him to send his Holy Spirit, the Spirit whose task it
is to maintain us in divine love and lead us into all truth. We will
pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church. On Pentecost
day, it was the Holy Spirit who created from the many languages of the
crowds assembled in Jerusalem one single voice to profess the
faith. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the Church's unity. The
path towards the restoration of full and visible communion among all
Christians may seem long and arduous. Much remains to be done to heal
the deep and painful divisions that disfigure Christ's Body. The Holy
Spirit, however, continues to guide the Church in surprising and often
unexpected ways. He can open doors that are locked, inspire words that
have been forgotten, heal relations that are broken. If our hearts and
minds are open to the Spirit of communion, God can work miracles again
in the Church, restoring the bonds of unity. Striving for Christian
unity is an act of obedient trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, who
leads the Church to the full realization of the Father's plan, in
conformity with the will of Christ.
The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church has been written
in the contrasting colours of persecution and martyrdom, darkness and
hope, humiliation and spiritual re-birth. Your Holiness and the
members of your delegation have personally lived through these
contrasting experiences in your families and in your own lives. The
restoration of freedom to the Church in Armenia has been a source of
great joy for us all. An immense task of rebuilding the Church has
been laid on your shoulders. I cannot but voice my great esteem for
the remarkable pastoral results that have been achieved in such a
short time, both in Armenia and abroad, for the Christian education of
young people, for the training of new clergy, for building new
churches and community centres, for charitable assistance to those in
need, and for promoting Christian values in social and cultural
life. Thanks to your pastoral leadership, the glorious light of Christ
shines again in Armenia and the saving words of the Gospel can be
heard once more. Of course, you are still facing many challenges on
the social, cultural and spiritual levels. In this regard, I must
mention the recent difficulties suffered by the people of Armenia, and
I express the prayerful support of the Catholic Church in their search
for justice and peace and the promotion of the common good.
In our ecumenical dialogue, important progress has been made in
clarifying the doctrinal controversies that have traditionally divided
us, particularly over questions of Christology. During the last five
years, much has been achieved by the Joint Commission for Theological
Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox
Churches, of which the Catholicosate of All Armenians is a full
member. I thank Your Holiness for the support given to the work of the
Joint Commission and for the valuable contribution made by your
representatives. We pray that its activity will bring us closer to
full and visible communion, and that the day will come when our unity
in faith makes possible a common celebration of the Eucharist. Until
that day, the bonds between us are best consolidated and extended by
agreements on pastoral issues, in line with the degree of doctrinal
agreement already attained. Only when sustained by prayer and
supported by effective cooperation, can theological dialogue lead to
the unity that the Lord wishes for his disciples.
Your Holiness, dear friends: in the twelfth century, Nerses of Lambron
addressed a group of Armenian Bishops. He concluded his famous Synodal
Discourse on the restoration of Christian unity with visionary words,
that still affect us today: `You are not wrong, Venerable Fathers: it
is meritorious to weep over days past in discord. However, today is
the day that the Lord has made, a day of gladness and joy (¦) Let
us then pray in order that our Lord give tenderness, sweetness in
greater abundance still, and that He develop on earth, by the dew of
the Holy Spirit, this seed; perhaps, thanks to His power may we also
produce fruits; so that we may restore the peace of the Church of
Christ today in intention, tomorrow in fact'. This is also my
prayerful wish on the occasion of your visit. I thank you most warmly
and assure you of my deep affection in the Lord.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/A rticolo.asp?c4385