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PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org/
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
"BILATERAL ECUMENISM NEEDS TO BE GIVEN PRIORITY IN VIEW OF THE GROWING
DECLINE OF MULTILATERAL ECUMENISM"
H.H. ARAM I
The Vatican: Addressing the staff of the Vatican's Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia
emphasized the growing importance of bilateral theological dialogues as "the
credible and efficient way of leading the churches towards the visible
unity".
His Holiness begun his talk by reminding the pivotal importance of the
ecumenical movement for "being church", because "it reminds the churches of
their ecclesial interrelatedness, emphasizes the urgency of healing the
brokenness of the church, calls for a deeper interaction between unity and
mission, and enhances the interconnection between the local and global".
Hence, in his view, "the ecumenical movement is not an option but an
imperative for staying together and being church".
Against the background of these introductory remarks, Aram I said that
the present ecumenical landscape is marked by a shift "from institutional to
people-centered ecumenism, multilateral to bilateral, Christocentric to
ecclesiocentric, fellowship-centered to non-committal, multi-confessional to
confessional, and global to local ecumenism". Hence, according to the
Armenian Catholicos, "the ecumenical movement has become restless, in search
of a new self-understanding, new self-articulation and a new vision". The
ecumenical agenda, too, steadily is shifting "from visible unity to issues
pertaining to church and society, from church-centered ecumenism to
inter-religious dialogue". These developments said Aram I are the result of
globalization and radical changes taking place in the life of churches and
societies at large.
His Holiness Aram I then identified some of the implications of these
emerging ecumenical realities for the life and witness of the World Council
of Churches (WCC). As a person who knows the WCC well having served for
fifteen years as the Moderator of its Central and Executive Committees,
Catholicos Aram I pointed out that "visible unity has almost lost its
centrality, and reception-oriented processes, such as BEM, Apostolic Faith,
nature of the church etc. remain in the shelves of the Council". He said
that although the 10th Assembly called for "moving together", "pilgrimage of
justice and peace stressed by the Busan Assembly, may eventually push
visible unity to the periphery of the ecumenical moment". In his view the
inter-religious dialogue, a major ecumenical challenge of present times, has
become "an area of marginal importance; it needs serious attention". His
Holiness expressed his concern about the Orthodox participation and
contribution, "which have been significantly reduced". As to WCC-Catholic
collaboration, Aram I considered it a vital dimension of the Council's work
and called for "the broadening of its agenda and revising of its
methodology".
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http://armenianorthodoxchurch.org/gallery-2
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org/
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
"BILATERAL ECUMENISM NEEDS TO BE GIVEN PRIORITY IN VIEW OF THE GROWING
DECLINE OF MULTILATERAL ECUMENISM"
H.H. ARAM I
The Vatican: Addressing the staff of the Vatican's Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia
emphasized the growing importance of bilateral theological dialogues as "the
credible and efficient way of leading the churches towards the visible
unity".
His Holiness begun his talk by reminding the pivotal importance of the
ecumenical movement for "being church", because "it reminds the churches of
their ecclesial interrelatedness, emphasizes the urgency of healing the
brokenness of the church, calls for a deeper interaction between unity and
mission, and enhances the interconnection between the local and global".
Hence, in his view, "the ecumenical movement is not an option but an
imperative for staying together and being church".
Against the background of these introductory remarks, Aram I said that
the present ecumenical landscape is marked by a shift "from institutional to
people-centered ecumenism, multilateral to bilateral, Christocentric to
ecclesiocentric, fellowship-centered to non-committal, multi-confessional to
confessional, and global to local ecumenism". Hence, according to the
Armenian Catholicos, "the ecumenical movement has become restless, in search
of a new self-understanding, new self-articulation and a new vision". The
ecumenical agenda, too, steadily is shifting "from visible unity to issues
pertaining to church and society, from church-centered ecumenism to
inter-religious dialogue". These developments said Aram I are the result of
globalization and radical changes taking place in the life of churches and
societies at large.
His Holiness Aram I then identified some of the implications of these
emerging ecumenical realities for the life and witness of the World Council
of Churches (WCC). As a person who knows the WCC well having served for
fifteen years as the Moderator of its Central and Executive Committees,
Catholicos Aram I pointed out that "visible unity has almost lost its
centrality, and reception-oriented processes, such as BEM, Apostolic Faith,
nature of the church etc. remain in the shelves of the Council". He said
that although the 10th Assembly called for "moving together", "pilgrimage of
justice and peace stressed by the Busan Assembly, may eventually push
visible unity to the periphery of the ecumenical moment". In his view the
inter-religious dialogue, a major ecumenical challenge of present times, has
become "an area of marginal importance; it needs serious attention". His
Holiness expressed his concern about the Orthodox participation and
contribution, "which have been significantly reduced". As to WCC-Catholic
collaboration, Aram I considered it a vital dimension of the Council's work
and called for "the broadening of its agenda and revising of its
methodology".
##
http://armenianorthodoxchurch.org/gallery-2