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FRANCOIS AU PATRIARCHE ARMENIEN : LE SANG DES MARTYRS DOIT UNIR LES CHRETIENS
Vatican-pape-religion-Arménie-Turquie
Le pape Francois a recu jeudi le patriarche des Arméniens Karékine
II, appelant a ne jamais oublier le sang versé par les chrétiens
arméniens au siècle dernier et en soulignant que le sacrifice des
martyrs doit permettre de renforcer l'unité entre leurs différentes
communautés.
Le pape a fait indirectement allusion aux grands massacres des
Arméniens sous l'empire Ottoman au début du XXe siècle : "Le
nombre des disciples qui ont versé leur sang pour le Christ dans
les tragédies du siècle dernier est certainement supérieur a celui
des martyrs des premiers siècles" de l'Eglise.
"Dans ce martyrologue, les enfants de la nation arménienne ont une
place d'honneur", a-t-il relevé, devant le patriarche de cette Eglise
orthodoxe très ancienne de sept millions de fidèles, dispersés
entre l'Arménie et la diaspora, notamment en Amérique du nord.
Le témoignage des Arméniens "ne doit pas être oublié. Commme dans
l'Eglise antique, le sang des martyrs devient semence de nouveaux
chrétiens, de même que, de nos jours, le sang de nombreux chrétiens
est devenu semence de l'unité" entre les Eglises, a-t-il estimé.
"L'oecuménisme de la souffrance et du martyre est une exhortation
puissante a arpenter la route de la réconciliation entre les Eglises.
Nous ressentons le devoir de parcourir cette route de fraternité".
Cette notion de "l'oecuménisme du martyre" est revenue a plusieurs
reprises dans la bouche du pape ou de hauts responsables de l'Eglise,
notamment a propos de la tragédie syrienne ou des actions terroristes
de Boko Haram au Nigeria. Des chrétiens de différentes confessions
ayant été tués ou enlevés par des groupes islamistes dans ces pays.
L'appel a l'unité des Eglises, catholiques et orthodoxes, souvent
divisées par des querelles anciennes, devrait être un point fort
du message de Francois, quand il se rendra en Jordanie, Palestine et
IsraÃ"l du 24 au 26 mai.
Le Catholicos, déja présent lors de la messe d'inauguration du
pontificat de Francois en mars 2013, a ensuite eu un temps de prière
oecuménique avec le pape, dans une chapelle du Vatican.
En 1999, Karékine avait été élu 132e patriarche des Arméniens,
et a eu plusieurs rencontres avec les derniers papes.
Arrivé mercredi pour un séjour de plusieurs jours a Rome avant de se
rendre aux Etats-Unis, il avait au programme une rencontre au Conseil
Pontifical pour l'unité des Chrétiens, et une entrevue avec le pape
émérite Benoit XVI.
AFP
ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II SUPREME PATRIARCH
AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS WITH HIS ENTOURAGE
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Your Holiness, Dear Brothers in Christ,
I gladly offer a most heartfelt welcome to you and to the distinguished
delegation accompanying you. Through Your Holiness, I also extend
respectful and affectionate greetings to the members of the Catholicate
family and to all Armenians around the world. It is a particular
grace to greet you here so close to the tomb of the Apostle Peter
and to share this moment of fraternity and prayer.
With you, I praise the Lord, because in recent years relations
between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Church of Rome have been
strengthened, thanks to the events which are so dear to our memory.
Here I recall the visit of my sainted predecessor to Armenia in 2001,
and the welcome presence of Your Holiness in the Vatican for the
official visit toPope Benedict XVI in 2008 and for the inauguration
of my ministry as Bishop of Rome last year.
Here I wish to recall another occasion full of meaning in which Your
Holiness participated : the commemoration of the witnesses to the faith
of the twentieth century, which took place in the context of the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000. In truth, the number of disciples who shed
their blood for Christ during the tragic events of the last century
is certainly greater than that of the martyrs of the first centuries,
and in this martyrology the children of the Armenian nation have a
place of honour. The mystery of the Cross, precious to the memory of
your people and depicted in the splendid stone crosses which adorn
every corner of your land, has been lived as a direct participation
in the chalice of the Passion by so many of your people.
Their witness, at once tragic and great, must not be forgotten.
Your Holiness, dear Brothers, the sufferings endured by Christians in
these last decades have made a unique and invaluable contribution to
the unity of Christ's disciples. As in the ancient Church, the blood
of the martyrs became the seed of new Christians. So too in our time
the blood of innumerable Christians has become a seed of unity. The
ecumenism of suffering and of the martyrdom of blood are a powerful
summons to walk the long path of reconciliation between the Churches,
by courageously and decisively abandoning ourselves to the working
of the Holy Spirit. We feel the duty to follow this fraternal path
also out of the debt of gratitude we owe to the suffering so many of
our brothers and sisters, which is salvific because it is united to
the Passion of Christ.
In this regard, I wish to thank Your Holiness for the effective support
given to ecumenical dialogue, and in particular to the work of the
joint commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and for the skillful theological
contributions offered by representatives of the Catholicate of All
Armenians.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all
our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in
any way afflicted with the consolation with which we ourselves are
consoled by God" (2 Cor 1 : 3-4). Full of trust, may we walk the path
that lies ahead of us, sustained by so great a cloud of witnesses
(cf. Heb 12:1), and implore the Father for the unity which Christ
himself prayed for at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 17:21).
Let us pray for each other : may the Holy Spirit enlighten us and
lead us to that day, so greatly desired, in which we can share the
Eucharistic table. We praise God in the words of Saint Gregory of
Narek, "Accept the song of blessing from our lips and deign to grant
to this Church the gifts and graces of Zion and of Bethlehem, so that
we can be made worthy to participate in salvation". May the all-holy
Mother of God intercede for the Armenian people now and always.
vendredi 9 mai 2014, Stéphane ©armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=99716
Vatican-pape-religion-Arménie-Turquie
Le pape Francois a recu jeudi le patriarche des Arméniens Karékine
II, appelant a ne jamais oublier le sang versé par les chrétiens
arméniens au siècle dernier et en soulignant que le sacrifice des
martyrs doit permettre de renforcer l'unité entre leurs différentes
communautés.
Le pape a fait indirectement allusion aux grands massacres des
Arméniens sous l'empire Ottoman au début du XXe siècle : "Le
nombre des disciples qui ont versé leur sang pour le Christ dans
les tragédies du siècle dernier est certainement supérieur a celui
des martyrs des premiers siècles" de l'Eglise.
"Dans ce martyrologue, les enfants de la nation arménienne ont une
place d'honneur", a-t-il relevé, devant le patriarche de cette Eglise
orthodoxe très ancienne de sept millions de fidèles, dispersés
entre l'Arménie et la diaspora, notamment en Amérique du nord.
Le témoignage des Arméniens "ne doit pas être oublié. Commme dans
l'Eglise antique, le sang des martyrs devient semence de nouveaux
chrétiens, de même que, de nos jours, le sang de nombreux chrétiens
est devenu semence de l'unité" entre les Eglises, a-t-il estimé.
"L'oecuménisme de la souffrance et du martyre est une exhortation
puissante a arpenter la route de la réconciliation entre les Eglises.
Nous ressentons le devoir de parcourir cette route de fraternité".
Cette notion de "l'oecuménisme du martyre" est revenue a plusieurs
reprises dans la bouche du pape ou de hauts responsables de l'Eglise,
notamment a propos de la tragédie syrienne ou des actions terroristes
de Boko Haram au Nigeria. Des chrétiens de différentes confessions
ayant été tués ou enlevés par des groupes islamistes dans ces pays.
L'appel a l'unité des Eglises, catholiques et orthodoxes, souvent
divisées par des querelles anciennes, devrait être un point fort
du message de Francois, quand il se rendra en Jordanie, Palestine et
IsraÃ"l du 24 au 26 mai.
Le Catholicos, déja présent lors de la messe d'inauguration du
pontificat de Francois en mars 2013, a ensuite eu un temps de prière
oecuménique avec le pape, dans une chapelle du Vatican.
En 1999, Karékine avait été élu 132e patriarche des Arméniens,
et a eu plusieurs rencontres avec les derniers papes.
Arrivé mercredi pour un séjour de plusieurs jours a Rome avant de se
rendre aux Etats-Unis, il avait au programme une rencontre au Conseil
Pontifical pour l'unité des Chrétiens, et une entrevue avec le pape
émérite Benoit XVI.
AFP
ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II SUPREME PATRIARCH
AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS WITH HIS ENTOURAGE
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Your Holiness, Dear Brothers in Christ,
I gladly offer a most heartfelt welcome to you and to the distinguished
delegation accompanying you. Through Your Holiness, I also extend
respectful and affectionate greetings to the members of the Catholicate
family and to all Armenians around the world. It is a particular
grace to greet you here so close to the tomb of the Apostle Peter
and to share this moment of fraternity and prayer.
With you, I praise the Lord, because in recent years relations
between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Church of Rome have been
strengthened, thanks to the events which are so dear to our memory.
Here I recall the visit of my sainted predecessor to Armenia in 2001,
and the welcome presence of Your Holiness in the Vatican for the
official visit toPope Benedict XVI in 2008 and for the inauguration
of my ministry as Bishop of Rome last year.
Here I wish to recall another occasion full of meaning in which Your
Holiness participated : the commemoration of the witnesses to the faith
of the twentieth century, which took place in the context of the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000. In truth, the number of disciples who shed
their blood for Christ during the tragic events of the last century
is certainly greater than that of the martyrs of the first centuries,
and in this martyrology the children of the Armenian nation have a
place of honour. The mystery of the Cross, precious to the memory of
your people and depicted in the splendid stone crosses which adorn
every corner of your land, has been lived as a direct participation
in the chalice of the Passion by so many of your people.
Their witness, at once tragic and great, must not be forgotten.
Your Holiness, dear Brothers, the sufferings endured by Christians in
these last decades have made a unique and invaluable contribution to
the unity of Christ's disciples. As in the ancient Church, the blood
of the martyrs became the seed of new Christians. So too in our time
the blood of innumerable Christians has become a seed of unity. The
ecumenism of suffering and of the martyrdom of blood are a powerful
summons to walk the long path of reconciliation between the Churches,
by courageously and decisively abandoning ourselves to the working
of the Holy Spirit. We feel the duty to follow this fraternal path
also out of the debt of gratitude we owe to the suffering so many of
our brothers and sisters, which is salvific because it is united to
the Passion of Christ.
In this regard, I wish to thank Your Holiness for the effective support
given to ecumenical dialogue, and in particular to the work of the
joint commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and for the skillful theological
contributions offered by representatives of the Catholicate of All
Armenians.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all
our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in
any way afflicted with the consolation with which we ourselves are
consoled by God" (2 Cor 1 : 3-4). Full of trust, may we walk the path
that lies ahead of us, sustained by so great a cloud of witnesses
(cf. Heb 12:1), and implore the Father for the unity which Christ
himself prayed for at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 17:21).
Let us pray for each other : may the Holy Spirit enlighten us and
lead us to that day, so greatly desired, in which we can share the
Eucharistic table. We praise God in the words of Saint Gregory of
Narek, "Accept the song of blessing from our lips and deign to grant
to this Church the gifts and graces of Zion and of Bethlehem, so that
we can be made worthy to participate in salvation". May the all-holy
Mother of God intercede for the Armenian people now and always.
vendredi 9 mai 2014, Stéphane ©armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=99716