Pastoral Letter of His Beatitude,

Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni Patriarch Catholicos of the Armenian Catholics

At the beginning of December 1999, His Beatitude wrote a Pastoral letter which we received just after Christmas. I read the Armenian original from the Radio. Unfortunately we don't have the English translation. I will endeavour to give you here, the main points of his letter. The letter is divided into seven points.

I- At the threshold of the Great Jubilee Year 2000, His Beatitude addresses his people with his first Pastoral letter to help us to celebrate in a becoming way this great event.

2- The 2000th anniversary of the Mystery of Salvation.

God sent his only Son to save mankind from the treachery of Satan and the slavery to sin which take away from the heart of man the possibility of happiness.

The Bible teaches us that man becomes the slave f Satan through sinning. Man sins, because he is afraid death. Christ came to the world so that through his Incarnation, Death and Resurrection, he will free us from death.

3- The new Paganism amongst us.

It is our duty to make known to all people the good news about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and about the Mystery of Salvation.

In our present society we come across many pagans, who live a life that disregards the existence of God completely; as if man himself was god. People want to decide life and death themselves, they want to control their own destiny.

In our parishes too, we see people who live a self-sufficient and self satisfying life, without accepting the need of God. As a result of this, their life is empty and they are led to all kinds of extremism.

It is our duty to talk to those people who have lost their way. As Christians it is our duty to care for them. Through baptism we received the necessary courage to be witnesses of our faith.

The real Christian is a soldier of Christ, and should work for Him. Unfortunately not many are taking on this responsibility seriously.

Christians should enlighten all the layers of human society with the Light of Christ. There, where the darkness of hopelessness prevails, we should bring the light of the Gospel values.

Let us reject everything that leads to treachery and sin, let us walk with confidence, led by the good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

4. The Holy Mystery of the Great Jubilee.

The second aim of the great Jubilee of 2000 is a reminder of the example of the Old Testament, when people on the occasion of the Jubilee year would forgive each other their debts, return the land to its previous owners. They would do this because in reality they accepted that everything belonged to God. People would reconcile with each other and would .forgive each other's faults.

We too should be doing the same. We should forgive unconditionally and be reconciled with one another. Let us forgive and let us also learn to ask for forgiveness from those we hurt in the past. "It needs courage to forgive, and it needs humility to ask tobe forgiven".

5- The 2000th anniversary and the 1 700th anniversary.

We should turn our attention to Armenia where the I700th anniversary of the country's conversion to Christianity will be celebrated soon. The conversion of Armenia should be an example for our individual conversion. King Tiridates accepted Christianity at the hands of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The suffering of St. Gregory and the conversion of King Tiridates revolutionised Armenian History. Through the ages, we had an important number of great men who contributed so much to our history and gave witness with their lives and death to the Christian faith. To understand our History properly, we need to look at it through the eyes of a Christian.

Let us not forget that we are the ones who are writing tomorrow's history. Do we have the courage of our ancestors to witness to and defend the Christian family values?

6- Our mission in Armenia

It has been about ten years now that new hopes have started to dawn on the horizons of our motherland. The great lie of atheism has finished, and now we see the light of Christianity once again shine there. We see hundreds of baptisms taking place every year.

We owe this to a group of priests and nuns who have been working tirelessly in the Armenian villages teaching and preparing them to receive the sacraments. Thanks to their work, many of our old churches and monasteries have been reconstructed and they are in use now.

But the work that is taking place now is not sufficient. There are a great number of Armenians who are waiting knowingly or unknowingly for the Light of the Illuminator.

7- Wishes and exhortations

We finish our first pastoral letter asking the Almighty that people. receive full benefits from the two great events of the next two years May the Lord's salvific sacrament be fruitful for all humanity.

May the joy of the great Jubilee of 2000 bring to each home reconciliation, spread the spirit of forgiveness and diffuse peace. Let no one celebrate this Jubilee in a selfish manner, let everything be done in the spirit of sharing.

May this Jubilee be also the best preparation for the celebration of the l700th anniversary of the conversion of Armenia, which should be celebrated in many ways, but mainly through a better understanding of the Gospels.

With a child's confidence in his mother, let us turn to the Mother of God asking for her intercession.

With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. May the blessings of the Almighty descend bountifully on you all.

Nerses Bedros XIX

Patriarch and Catholicos of the Arm. Catholics.