Greeting of Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos, to the Holy Father |
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Here is the English-language text of the address given on 9 November by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
The 2,000th year of the Holy Birth of our Lord unites us in glorious fraternity, and we greet you with the words of the Armenian Divine Liturgy, the vivifying tidings of the mystery of the Holy Sacrament. Glory to God in the highest for granting us, the 132nd occupant of the Throne of Holy Etchmiadzin, Mother See of the Armenian people, the joyous occasion and opportunity to exchange the kiss of peace with Your Holiness here in the heart of Rome. May our encounter today serve as a testimony to the kinship between the apostolic thrones of St Peter and St Thaddeus. When last we stood on this hallowed ground, only a year and a half ago, we were in the company of our predecessor of blessed memory, His Holiness Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians, who had been invited by Your Holiness to partake in the opening of the Vatican's Rome-Armenia Exhibition. On this occasion, too, we feel the presence of the restorative and life-giving Holy Spirit of God. Beginning with the historic embrace between our predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Catholicos Vasken I, the Holy Spirit has guided our two sees to frequently attest to unity in Christ. Divine Providence has enabled us to confront violence, injustice, corruption and the error characteristic of our times. These very challenges prompt the Church of Christ to strengthen her God-pleasing quest for unity and solidarity of purpose, always confident that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18). As the Patriarch of the Armenian people, we rejoice that the peal of Christian brotherhood and unity within the Church of Christ is being trumpeted from the very center of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican, and from the very heart and soul of her most graceful pontiff. It would be impossible for such a sound not to echo in Armenia: that land thriving under the biblical Mount Ararat, which has faithfully served for centuries as the tireless gatekeeper of the Christian East - and remains so to this day. That peal is especially dear to our own heart, for in it we recognize the spirit of the Gospel and its invincible message of love and brotherhood, before which all obstacles are powerless. So long as we mutually reinforce the solidarity among Christian Churches, we are convinced that throughout the third millennium the Church of Christ will flourish on its divinely-established, apostolic path. Today our heart abounds with happiness, as we come - accompanied by high-ranking clergymen of the Armenian Church and representatives of our people from around the world - to receive the relic of our patron saint, St Gregory the Illuminator. In restoring this relic to the Armenians, the Catholic Church bears witness to the brotherhood between our two ancient Churches; with solemn gratitude we will escort these sacred remains to Holy Etchmiadzin, to be reunited with the relic of the Illuminator's right hand. |
Your Holiness, beloved brother in Christ: In the name of the Holy Apostolic Armenian Church, we offer our gratitude for this testimony of love and respect. It demonstrates your high esteem for the Armenian Church, your appreciation of her heritage, and your recognition that her history is founded upon the martyrdom of her people. During its unique historical development, the Armenian Church managed to avoid isolation by setting her sights on the ideal of "unity in essential matters, liberty in doubtful matters, charity in all things" (unitas in necessariis, libertas in dubiis, caritas in omnibus). Though remote, she remained an important member of the Body of Christ. The independence of the Armenian Church is a sacred legacy from the distant past. The Armenian flock and its pastors have cherished this independence with great effort and zeal. And in appreciating our own God-given freedom and independence, we have always respected and esteemed the distinctive identities of others. During times of turmoil, under harsh conditions of a lost statehood, the Armenian Church kept alive the sacred ideal of freedom, preserved an aspiration for it in the souls of its people, and elevated the Armenian struggle to a cause "for the sake of the faith and for the sake of the fatherland" (as stated by the fifth-century historian Yeghishe). It is our conviction that the dogmatic differences within the Church of Christ are an inescapable facet of our common history; they are the result of the attempt to express a single truth in distinct languages and modes of thought, in the aspiration to penetrate the depths of divine revelation. Nevertheless, these same differences should not be understood as obstacles to brotherly fellowship, unity and love in Christ. It is in this sense that we profess the real and mystical unity of the Church. Your Holiness: On the occasion of this meeting, it is our pleasure to renew our invitation to you, to visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia, and to participate in the celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the conversion of the Armenian people to Christianity. Your august presence during those festivities will be an honor both to the Armenian Church and to her children throughout the world. It is the will of our Lord that the Armenian people should celebrate the turning-point in their ancient history under the free skies of a sovereign homeland. A century that began with the genocide of the Armenians now concludes with a new hope. Fortified by their faith in the Resurrection, our people survived their greatest catastrophe, thus overcoming the evil of premeditated annihilation. They went on to plant the seeds of goodness and to nourish their faith in justice; and today, at the dawn of a new century, they await the universal recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide. They seek this so that, through the rejection of evil in the hearts of men, goodness might prevail and bear fruit - and the world may witness that God does not forsake his creatures, for "he who seeks goodness finds goodwill" (Pry 11:27). It remains our prayer that the third millennium may bring a new dawn of peace and tidings of reconciliation throughout the world. We offer prayers to our heavenly Lord, the risen Christ, that he may bless us, bless our Churches, and bless his faithful flock entrusted to our care. L'osservatore Romano Weekly Edition, 15 November 2000 |