CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II'S HOMILY

We feel your brotherly love for Armenia

Holy Father's introductory remarks

After the Gospel had been chanted in Armenian, the Holy Father introduced the homily of Catholicos Karekin II with brief remarks in Italian. Here is a translation. Dear Brothers and Sisters, we have listened to the word of God. We have heard the Gospel proclaimed in the Armenian language as a sign that it is meant for all: the same Good News has been preached in every language among all peoples. Today this one word of God has called us here together to pray for the restoration of full communion among all who believe in Christ. With deep joy I urge you to listen to the words of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

Here is the text of the homily which His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, preached in English.

Blessed is God, who has guided our efforts to reach out to Sister Churches in this year marking the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the first year of our reign as Catholicos of All Armenians. In embracing our spiritual brethren, we renew and reinforce the centuries-old ties and cooperation between us. With a grateful heart we offer prayers of thanksgiving to the Almighty, as we exchange with the head of the Roman Catholic Church the love and reverence we share in Christ.

Your Holiness, our heart abounds with joy on this occasion. Our visit to Rome has been greeted with an unparalleled display of welcome, crowned by brotherly love. From the hand of Your Holiness, the worthy and wise successor of the Holy Apostle Peter, we, the successor of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus and the Apostle-like St Gregory the Illuminator, gratefully receive the relic of the latter, who is considered the Second Enlightener of the Armenian people and a great saint of the holy universal Church. This event is indeed a joyous milestone in the life of all Armenians living in the homeland and throughout the diaspora. Today, the Roman Catholic Church has presented a priceless treasure to the Armenians, to acknowledge the 1,700th anniversary of the declaration of Christianity as the national religion of Armenia.

Joining us in this holy cathedral today are a number of our children, who have come to Rome from 12 countries on five continents; their presence bears witness to the joy and exultation of our entire people. Their prayers, along with those of our clergymen and those of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, intermingle under these hallowed arches to beseech the intercession of the Holy Enlightener and father of our faith - that great saint whom you call Gregory the Armenian. These prayers raise an immaterial edifice, which "grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph 2:21) through our love and faith in Christ.

It is a cathedral of light, built not by mortal hands - among whose architects is St Gregory the illuminator, the great confessor of Christ, preeminent lawgiver of the Armenian nation, and our first Catholicos.

Seventeen hundred years ago, St Gregory emerged from his unjust imprisonment. He had previously endured unspeakable torture, and had been subject to 13 years' confinement in Khor Virab, the dungeon of the doomed. But by the will of God he was released. Despite his sufferings he rejected bitterness, and took up the way of purity by resuming his preaching of the life-giving word of God. The light of the Gospel intensified in the land of the Armenians, resulting in the miraculous Conversion of our people. Later, through St Gregory's Visionary eyes, our nation witnessed the risen Saviour, clad in light, descending from the unreachable heavens to smite the soil of our homeland. The power of St Gregory's faith transformed the character and meaning of our national life. Since that time - and unto the ages of ages - that faith has borne the seal of Christ, and is anchored in Holy Etchmiadzin, which rose from the earth at the descent of the Only-begotten. In the fitting words of the historian Arakel Davrijetsi: "The entire Armenian nation is attached to the Hand of St Gregory [i.e., his relic] and Holy Etchmiadzin" (ch. Xvii).

St Gregory, the shepherd who dedicated his life unsparingly to the Armenian people, has never left his flock. When we were beset by wolves, or scattered across the world, or taken into captivity by unholy usurpers; as we stand at the crossroads of history or lie in our eternal rest - he has been with us, sharing our tribulations.

In the name of our people, we express our thanks and appreciation to His Eminence Michele Giordano, the Cardinal of Naples, and to the devoted sisters of the Monastery of St Gregory, who have reverently protected the relics as well as the instruments that tortured the great confessor of Christ. For five centuries, these relics have attracted thousands of pilgrims to the Monastery of St Gregory, thus perpetuating the inspirational and mysterious mission of a saint who dedicated his life to God.

Today, our holy Illuminator returns to his people, to rejoice with them in the atmosphere of freedom and independence, and to bestow his blessings on the land of Ararat by means of his illustrious relics.

Like other Christians, our people have had a long history of zealously venerating the relics of saints - to the surprise and discouragement of enemies who would force us to deny the truth of Christianity. Though others have tried to strip us of our faith, Christianity is not a garment to be worn and tossed away, but is to our people the very hue and texture of our skin. Attempts to change such things can only be vain, and Armenians have been willing to prove this - even at the cost of their own martyrdom. Likewise with Christ beside us, fortified by the sacraments of the Church and the relics of the saints, we have stood our ground on the saving road of the Cross, defending the embattled citadel of Christendom in the East.

Even so, today our people are deprived of many relics and holy shrines located in the vestiges of historic Armenia, which still attest to the Christian presence in those lands, and which have been sanctified by the sweat and blood of the Armenian people. Most of the Armenians present here are the offspring of the remnant of our people that survived the Armenian genocide of 1915. Having been deported from their historic homeland, after wandering from place to place, they finally settled in the various countries of the world and established the present-day Armenian diaspora. The people in our entourage are descendants of those who sought refuge from the genocide; today they are upright and devoted citizens of their respective countries, and enjoy the respect and trust of their adoptive and beloved homelands. The fact that Ottoman Turkey perpetrated the Armenian genocide is well known to the clergy of the Western Churches, who followed the philanthropic example of Christ and stretched out their hands to assist our afflicted people.

Consequently, we harbor a deep sense of gratitude to all those who rendered support to us in those terrible days. This feeling will never be extinguished from our hearts; nor will the affection we feel towards others who came to our aid during the genocide, and during the earthquake of Spitak, the tribulations associated with our transition to independence, and the Karabagh movement. The Roman Catholic Church, too, has not remained aloof from our distress in recent times. Indeed, Your Holiness' comforting and encouraging words spoken on numerous occasions still ring in our ears.

Your Holiness: in pursuing the relationship between our two Churches, we feel your spirit of brotherly love towards the Armenian Church and people. Several years ago, in yet another loving gesture, you dispatched to the Armenian Apostolic Church the relics of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew, co-worker with St Thaddeus in the task of evangelizing the Armenian people. Your visits and those of your predecessor, Pope Paul VI, to the countries of the Near East and to several Armenian churches have been a great comfort to our people. We were especially grateful during your visit to the Holy Land this past spring, when you chose the hallowed ground of the St James Armenian Cathedral as the site to offer your prayer to our Saviour.

Last year our people prepared with great enthusiasm and affection to welcome Your Holiness to our homeland of Armenia, where freedom is now being pursued under the gaze of Mount Ararat. Alas, the health of the blessed Catholicos Karekin I reached a crisis, and your visit could not go forward at that time. But our hope to play host to Your Holiness remains strong, and our people look forward to celebrating the 1,700th Jubilee of the Armenian Apostolic Church in your comforting presence.

We thankfully repeat our invitation to you on this momentous occasion of our meeting and your presentation of the relics of St Gregory the Illuminator to the Armenian Church. And we beseech the Lord that Your Holiness as well as all the spiritual leaders of the Christian churches will pray for the intercession of the Holy illuminator, so that our holy faith may be renewed in the Armenia of today as it was in the Armenia of 1,700 years ago.

We pray that the holy saints will intercede with our heavenly Father, so that he may bless our encounter and guide us in our duties, for the sake of his glory and for the well-being of our faithful Churches. Amen.

L'osservatore Romano

Weekly Edition, November 15 2000