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POPE'S ADDRESS TO ARAM I, CATHOLICOS OF ARMENIAN CHURCH OF CILICIA
Zenit, Italy
June 5 2014
"I am convinced that on our journey towards full communion we share
the same hopes and a similar sense of responsibility as we strive to
be faithful to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Vatican City, June 05, 2014 (Zenit.org) | 137 hits
Pope Francis this morning received in private audience Aram I,
Catholicos of the Apostolic Armenian Church of Cilicia. Before a
moment of prayer in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, the Holy Father
delivered the following address:
***
Your Holiness,
Dear Brothers in Christ,
It is a particular pleasure for me to extend to Your Holiness, and to
the distinguished members of your delegation, a cordial greeting in
the Lord Jesus. It is a greeting which I also offer to the bishops,
the clergy and all the faithful of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"
(Rom 1:7).
One month ago, I had the pleasure of receiving His Holiness Catholicos
Karekin II. Today I have the joy of welcoming Your Holiness, the
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Together with you, I give
thanks to the Lord for the continued growth of fraternal relations
between us. I consider it a true gift from God that we can share this
moment of encounter and common prayer.
Your Holiness's commitment to the cause of Christian unity is known to
all. You have been especially active in the World Council of Churches
and you continue to be most supportive of the Middle East Council of
Churches, which plays such an important role in assisting the Christian
communities of that region as they face numerous difficulties. Nor
can I fail to mention the significant contribution which Your Holiness
and the representatives of the Catholicosate of Cilicia have made to
the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic
Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. I am convinced that on our
journey towards full communion we share the same hopes and a similar
sense of responsibility as we strive to be faithful to the will of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Holiness represents a part of the Christian world that is
irrevocably marked by a history of trials and sufferings courageously
accepted for the love of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church has had
to become a pilgrim people; it has experienced in a singular way
what it means to journey towards the Kingdom of God. The history of
emigration, persecutions and the martyrdom experienced by so many of
the faithful has inflicted deep wounds on the hearts of all Armenians.
We must see and venerate these as wounds inflicted on the very body
of Christ, and for this very reason a cause for unfailing hope and
trust in the provident mercy of the Father.
Trust and hope. How much these are needed! They are needed by our
Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East, especially those
living in areas racked by conflict and violence. But we too need them,
as Christians who are spared such sufferings yet so often risk losing
our way in the desert of indifference and forgetfulness of God, or
living in conflict with out brothers and sisters, or succumbing in
our interior struggle against sin. As followers of Jesus Christ, we
need to learn humbly to bear one another's burdens and to help each
other to be better Christians, better followers of Jesus. So let us
advance together in charity, as Christ loved us and gave himself for
us, offering himself to God as a pleasing sacrifice (cf. Heb 5:1-2).
In these days before Pentecost, we prepare to relive in mystery the
miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the nascent Church. In
faith, let us invoke the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, that
he may renew the face of the earth, be a source of healing for our
wounded world, and reconcile the hearts of all men and women with
God the Creator.
May he, the Paraclete, inspire our journey towards unity. May he teach
us to strengthen the fraternal bonds which even now unite us in the one
baptism and in the one faith. Upon all of us I invoke the protection
of Mary, the All-Holy Mother of God, who was present in the Upper Room
with the Apostles, that she may be for us the Mother of Unity. Amen.
[Vatican translation]
(June 05, 2014) (c) Innovative Media Inc.
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-aram-i-catholicos-of-armenian-church-of-cilicia
From: A. Papazian
Zenit, Italy
June 5 2014
"I am convinced that on our journey towards full communion we share
the same hopes and a similar sense of responsibility as we strive to
be faithful to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Vatican City, June 05, 2014 (Zenit.org) | 137 hits
Pope Francis this morning received in private audience Aram I,
Catholicos of the Apostolic Armenian Church of Cilicia. Before a
moment of prayer in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, the Holy Father
delivered the following address:
***
Your Holiness,
Dear Brothers in Christ,
It is a particular pleasure for me to extend to Your Holiness, and to
the distinguished members of your delegation, a cordial greeting in
the Lord Jesus. It is a greeting which I also offer to the bishops,
the clergy and all the faithful of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"
(Rom 1:7).
One month ago, I had the pleasure of receiving His Holiness Catholicos
Karekin II. Today I have the joy of welcoming Your Holiness, the
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Together with you, I give
thanks to the Lord for the continued growth of fraternal relations
between us. I consider it a true gift from God that we can share this
moment of encounter and common prayer.
Your Holiness's commitment to the cause of Christian unity is known to
all. You have been especially active in the World Council of Churches
and you continue to be most supportive of the Middle East Council of
Churches, which plays such an important role in assisting the Christian
communities of that region as they face numerous difficulties. Nor
can I fail to mention the significant contribution which Your Holiness
and the representatives of the Catholicosate of Cilicia have made to
the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic
Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. I am convinced that on our
journey towards full communion we share the same hopes and a similar
sense of responsibility as we strive to be faithful to the will of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Holiness represents a part of the Christian world that is
irrevocably marked by a history of trials and sufferings courageously
accepted for the love of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church has had
to become a pilgrim people; it has experienced in a singular way
what it means to journey towards the Kingdom of God. The history of
emigration, persecutions and the martyrdom experienced by so many of
the faithful has inflicted deep wounds on the hearts of all Armenians.
We must see and venerate these as wounds inflicted on the very body
of Christ, and for this very reason a cause for unfailing hope and
trust in the provident mercy of the Father.
Trust and hope. How much these are needed! They are needed by our
Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East, especially those
living in areas racked by conflict and violence. But we too need them,
as Christians who are spared such sufferings yet so often risk losing
our way in the desert of indifference and forgetfulness of God, or
living in conflict with out brothers and sisters, or succumbing in
our interior struggle against sin. As followers of Jesus Christ, we
need to learn humbly to bear one another's burdens and to help each
other to be better Christians, better followers of Jesus. So let us
advance together in charity, as Christ loved us and gave himself for
us, offering himself to God as a pleasing sacrifice (cf. Heb 5:1-2).
In these days before Pentecost, we prepare to relive in mystery the
miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the nascent Church. In
faith, let us invoke the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, that
he may renew the face of the earth, be a source of healing for our
wounded world, and reconcile the hearts of all men and women with
God the Creator.
May he, the Paraclete, inspire our journey towards unity. May he teach
us to strengthen the fraternal bonds which even now unite us in the one
baptism and in the one faith. Upon all of us I invoke the protection
of Mary, the All-Holy Mother of God, who was present in the Upper Room
with the Apostles, that she may be for us the Mother of Unity. Amen.
[Vatican translation]
(June 05, 2014) (c) Innovative Media Inc.
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-aram-i-catholicos-of-armenian-church-of-cilicia
From: A. Papazian