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THE NEW YORK TIMES COVERS THE BISHOPS SYNOD AT HOLY ETCHMIADZIN
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/10/04/the-new-york-times-covers-the-bishops-synod-at-holy-etchmiadzin/
15:28 04.10.2013
"In this ancient city, tucked in a valley that has witnessed the rise
and fall of empires, King Tiridates III converted to Christianity
and declared Armenia to be the world's first Christian state. The
year was 301, more than a decade before the Emperor Constantine put
Rome on a similar path," The New York Timeswrites about the Armenian
city of Etchmiadzin, the religions center of all Armenians.
"Since then, the Armenian Apostolic Church, which still has its main
cathedral here, has survived conquest and dispersion, genocide and
government-imposed atheism during the years Armenia was part of the
Soviet Union. It also endured centuries of internal rancor, including
a split in 1441 that led to the establishment of a rival leadership
now based in Lebanon," the article reads.
As church leaders gathered in Etchmiadzin last week for a rare bishops'
conference, they considered a set of challenges: entrenched secularism
at home, assimilation of followers in the large Armenian Diaspora
abroad and general disaffection with organized religion.
His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
acknowledged that he claimed the same basic title as Catholicos
Karekin II, the church leader based in Echmiadzin, who also has
the added designation of supreme patriarch of all Armenians. Still,
Aram I denied any fissure.
"We don't have any division in the Armenian church," he said. "We are
one church. We are one people. We are one nation. We are one mission.
We have two Catholicoi, and we are rich - this is an expression of
the richness of the church," he told the New York Times.
The Synod discussed a wide range of issues: creating universal
practices for baptisms and confirmations, discussing the canonization
of victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide in recognition of the 100th
anniversary, and planning another conference next year.
Archbishop Aris Shirvanian, the director of ecumenical and foreign
relations at the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said
that reaching an agreement to canonize victims - the first saints
designated by the church since the 1500s - was a top priority.
"We, the bishops and archbishops living today, are descendants
of Armenian genocide," Archbishop Shirvanian said. "All of us are
survivors. That's the driving spirit behind this meeting."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/10/04/the-new-york-times-covers-the-bishops-synod-at-holy-etchmiadzin/
15:28 04.10.2013
"In this ancient city, tucked in a valley that has witnessed the rise
and fall of empires, King Tiridates III converted to Christianity
and declared Armenia to be the world's first Christian state. The
year was 301, more than a decade before the Emperor Constantine put
Rome on a similar path," The New York Timeswrites about the Armenian
city of Etchmiadzin, the religions center of all Armenians.
"Since then, the Armenian Apostolic Church, which still has its main
cathedral here, has survived conquest and dispersion, genocide and
government-imposed atheism during the years Armenia was part of the
Soviet Union. It also endured centuries of internal rancor, including
a split in 1441 that led to the establishment of a rival leadership
now based in Lebanon," the article reads.
As church leaders gathered in Etchmiadzin last week for a rare bishops'
conference, they considered a set of challenges: entrenched secularism
at home, assimilation of followers in the large Armenian Diaspora
abroad and general disaffection with organized religion.
His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
acknowledged that he claimed the same basic title as Catholicos
Karekin II, the church leader based in Echmiadzin, who also has
the added designation of supreme patriarch of all Armenians. Still,
Aram I denied any fissure.
"We don't have any division in the Armenian church," he said. "We are
one church. We are one people. We are one nation. We are one mission.
We have two Catholicoi, and we are rich - this is an expression of
the richness of the church," he told the New York Times.
The Synod discussed a wide range of issues: creating universal
practices for baptisms and confirmations, discussing the canonization
of victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide in recognition of the 100th
anniversary, and planning another conference next year.
Archbishop Aris Shirvanian, the director of ecumenical and foreign
relations at the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said
that reaching an agreement to canonize victims - the first saints
designated by the church since the 1500s - was a top priority.
"We, the bishops and archbishops living today, are descendants
of Armenian genocide," Archbishop Shirvanian said. "All of us are
survivors. That's the driving spirit behind this meeting."