Pope Francis and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, have appealed for common action on behalf of persecuted Christians, the welcome of refugees and defence of the family.
The Pope and Catholicos Karekin signed a joint declaration at the end of the Pope’s visit to Armenia.
Earlier in the day, at an Armenian Divine Liturgy, both had spoken of their unity as believers in Christ and of their conviction that Christians are called by God to assist the poor, the persecuted and the needy.
While their joint declaration mentioned the progress made in official Catholic-Oriental Orthodox theological dialogue and their hopes for its continuation, the heart of the text focused on common Christian action to relieve suffering. “We are witnessing an immense tragedy unfolding before our eyes,” the two leaders said. “Countless innocent people” were being “killed, displaced or forced into a painful and uncertain exile by continuing conflicts on ethnic, economic, political and religious grounds in the Middle East and other parts of the world.”
“Religious and ethnic minorities have become the target of persecution and cruel treatment to the point that suffering for one’s religious belief has become a daily reality,” they said. The Christians being martyred belong to different churches and their suffering “is an ‘ecumenism of blood’, which transcends the historical divisions between Christians”.
The two leaders prayed that the terrorists waging war on Christians and other minorities would convert, and that “those who are in a position to stop the violence” would hasten to do so.
Pontiff disappoints Turkey by using the term ‘genocide’
During a speech at Armenia’s presidential palace on the first day of his visit Pope Francis departed from his prepared text to use the term “genocide” to describe the Ottoman massacre of Armenians 100 years ago, provoking criticism from Turkey.
The Pope’s last reference to the Armenian genocide led to the Turkish ambassador being withdrawn from the Vatican for a year and none of the prepared texts for his three-day visit included the term.
But last Friday the Pope told the president and government officials: “Sadly that tragedy, that genocide, was the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims” that had extended to “planning the annihilation of entire peoples”.
Unfortunately, he said, “the great international powers looked the other way”.
Having seen the depths of evil unleashed by “hatred, prejudice and the untrammelled desire for dominion”, people must make renewed commitments to ensuring differences are resolved with dialogue, he said.
The Turkish foreign ministry said the Pope had again “disappointed” the Turkish people.
Pope praises Armenia’s deep faith
In his first speech in Armenia, Pope Francis praised the country for being a “herald of Christ among the nations”, saying it had kept alive the “light of faith” even in the darkest times.
Speaking at the Armenian Apostolic cathedral of Etchmiadzin, he said: “For Armenia, faith in Christ has not been like a garment to be donned or doffed … but an essential part of its identity, a gift of immense significance, preserved with great effort and strength, even at the cost of life itself.”
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