Yerevan, Jun 24, 2016 / 07:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Praying at the main cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church at the start of his three-day visit to the Caucasus nation, Pope Francis praised the “spirit of ecumenism,” and its role in promoting human dignity against “grave forms of material and spiritual poverty.”
“We offer to the world – which so urgently needs it – a convincing witness that Christ is alive and at work, capable of opening new paths of reconciliation among the nations, civilizations and religions,” the Pope said Friday. “We offer a credible witness that God is love and mercy.”
The Pope made these remarks during his visit to the St. Etchmiadzin cathedral at the invitation of Karekin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is believed to be the oldest cathedral in the world.
The Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenia's national church, is an Oriental Orthodox Church to which 93 percent of the population belongs.
“When our actions are prompted by the power of Christ’s love, understanding and reciprocal esteem grow,” Francis said, “a fruitful ecumenical journey becomes possible, and all people of goodwill, and society as a whole, are shown a concrete way to harmonize the conflicts that rend civil life and create divisions that prove hard to heal.”
The “spirit of ecumenism,” he explained, “prevents the exploitation and manipulation of faith.” This is because “requires us to rediscover faith’s authentic roots, and to communicate, defend and spread truth with respect for the dignity of every human being and in ways that reveal the presence of the love and salvation we wish to spread.”
The visit to Saint Etchmiadzin cathedral, the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is the first major stop on Pope Francis' June 24-26 visit to the Caucasus nation.
Following a greeting by Catholicos Karekin II, Pope Francis Francis expressed his gratitude for the invitation to visit Saint Etchmiadzin, along with the bishops and archbishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Pope reflected on the nation's Christian legacy, saying he thanked God “for the light of faith kindled” in Armenia, which has given it a “particular identity and made it a herald of Christ among the nations.”
“Christ is your glory and your light. He is the sun who has illuminated and enlivened you, accompanied and sustained you, especially in times of trial.”
In 301 A.D., Armenia became the first nation to establish Christianity as its state religion, “at a time when persecutions still raged throughout the Roman Empire,” the pontiff recalled.
“For Armenia, faith in Christ has not been like a garment to be donned or doffed as circumstances or convenience dictate,” he said. Rather, it is “an essential part of its identity, a gift of immense significance, to be accepted with joy, preserved with great effort and strength, even at the cost of life itself.”
This “luminous testimony of faith,” the Pope said, “is a shining example of the great efficacy and fruitfulness of the baptism received over seventeen hundred years ago, together with the eloquent and holy sign of martyrdom, which has constantly accompanied the history of your people.”
Francis turned to the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, and acknowledged the steps that have been taken over the years under the pontificates of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Included among these are the consignment of the relic of Saint Gregory the Illuminator for the new Cathedral of Yerevan, and the joint declaration between St. John Paul II and Karekin II.
“May the Holy Spirit help us to attain the unity for which our Lord prayed, so that his disciples may be one and the world may believe,” he said.
The pontiff decried the divisions and conflicts in the world, along with “grave forms of material and spiritual poverty, including the exploitation of persons, not least children and the elderly.”
“It expects from Christians a witness of mutual esteem and fraternal cooperation capable of revealing to every conscience the power and truth of Christ’s resurrection,” he said.
Joint initiatives and cooperation in the context of a commitment to unity, therefore, serve the common good, the Pope said.
“All these are like a radiant light in a dark night and a summons to experience even our differences in an attitude of charity and mutual understanding.”
He closed his address by invoking the intercession of Mary, St. Gregory the Illuminator, and doctor of the Church St. Gregory of Narek to “bless all of you and the entire Armenian nation.”
The Francis' visit to Armenia comes little over a hundred years after the 1915 Armenian genocide, during which some 1.5 million Christians were killed by the Ottoman Empire, and millions more displaced.
He is also the second pontiff to visit the Caucasus nation, after St. John Paul II's in 2001.
Article Archive
'Spirit of Ecumenism' helps promote Christian witness, Pope says
Related Articles • More Articles
A Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish procession honoring the patroness of Cuba on Sept. 7, 2023. / Credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Havana, CubaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).The regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba has prohibited several Holy Week processions in different cities of the country, including the El Vedado area of Havana as well as in Bayamo, a town that was the scene of major protests earlier this month.Last week, ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, reported on the prohibition of processions in the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior located in the Bayamo-Manzanillo area in the province of Granma, due to the regime's fear that new protests would break out. The prohibition has been extended to the capital, Havana, according to a Catholic priest.In a March 25 Facebook post, Father Lester Zayas, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in the El Vedado business district of Havana, reported that the day before he had been notifie...
The Catholic faithful gathered in the Cenacle in Jerusalem for the Mass of the Lord's Supper that the Franciscan friars celebrated on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. The Cenacle is at the center of strong tensions and disputes regarding ownership and rights of access and celebration. An ancient tradition places King David's tomb here and over the centuries Jews and Muslims have leveraged this to first expel the Franciscans and then to prevent Christian worship, which they deemed sacrilegious. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 28, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).On Holy Thursday, the doors of the Cenacle in Jerusalem were opened to welcome the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In this "Upper Room," called the Cenacle in the Holy Land, Jesus had his Last Supper, washed his apostles' feet, and instituted the Eucharist. It was here that the Franciscans celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper, reenacting those same gestures. (At the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,...
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...