Catholic News Service
May 7 2008
Christians must persevere in prayer for unity, pope says at audience
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite the difficulties and divisions,
Christians must persevere in prayer for full unity, Pope Benedict XVI
said while the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church looked on.
"We are certain that Our Lord Jesus will never abandon us in our quest
for unity" as the Holy Spirit continues to sustain those who strive to
overcome the divisions and heal "the lacerations in the living flesh
of the church," the pope said.
Just a few days before the feast of Pentecost, the pope shared the
stage during his May 7 general audience in St. Peter’s Square with
Catholicos Karekin II, patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The patriarch and a delegation of 18 bishops were in Rome May 6-10 to
meet with the pope and Vatican officials, as well as scholars and
students at various pontifical institutes.
After warmly greeting and embracing the patriarch before the main
audience, the pope thanked him for his dedication to ecumenism and his
"personal commitment to the growing friendship" between the two
churches.
"I am sure that this period of friendship will be further deepened
during the coming days," he said.
The pope said a statue in St. Peter’s Basilica of St. Gregory the
Illuminator — the father of the Armenian Church — serves as a
reminder of the "severe persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians."
Those martyrs represent "a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit
working in times of darkness" and act as a beacon of hope for
Christians everywhere, he said.
Catholicos Karekin, meanwhile, called on all people to "condemn all
genocides," both past and present, so that those in positions of
authority may be moved to recognize "their responsibilities and
results of those crimes."
The patriarch also made an appeal for all Christians who "are in
distress in the Middle East and many other regions in the world."
These religious minorities and the more vulnerable like the elderly
and children are "endangered by the blows of disagreement and
division, unjust competition and enmity," he said.
"This is not the will of God. This is not our calling," he
said. Christians are called to live in peace, serve unity and work for
the common good, said the patriarch.
He said that, despite cultural, historical and theological differences
among Christians, "we are all children of one God and we are brothers
and sisters in his holy love."
It is by being united in love that the diverse churches offer "genuine
testimony that we are children of God," he said.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is an ancient and independent Oriental
Orthodox church that vests synods and councils with ultimate authority
in their governance. The Catholic Church gives greater weight in
church governance to the primacy of the bishop of Rome.
The Armenian Church and a handful of other ancient Christian churches
broke from the rest of Christendom in 451 when they rejected the
assertion of the Council of Chalcedon that Christ is one person in two
natures, undivided and unconfused.
Modern scholarship has revealed that the differences were semantic
rather than doctrinal, and there have been several official joint
declarations by the pope and various heads of the Oriental Orthodox
churches professing that their faith in Christ is the same, although
expressed differently.
After the two leaders exchanged greetings before the 30,000 pilgrims
in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict dedicated the catechesis of his
general audience to the theme of Christian unity.
He said the patriarch’s visit and the coming feast of Pentecost
boosted hopes that the Holy Spirit will help them on the path of
ecumenism.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is why, "even facing difficulties and
divisions, Christians can never give up or give in to discouragement,"
he said. Even though people are separated by language and culture, the
Holy Spirit can overcome divisions since the spirit — as love —
"gives unity in diversity," he said.
"From the first moment it existed, the church has spoken in all
tongues … and it lives in all cultures; it destroys nothing of the
various gifts, the different charisms," but rather brings it together
and reconciles unity and multiplicity," he said.
At the end of the general audience, the pope greeted pilgrims from the
newly erected Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Qatar.
The church is the first Catholic church built in that predominantly
Muslim country and was inaugurated in March.
– – –
Editor’s Note: The Vatican’s text of the pope’s remarks in English is
available online at:
ces/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080507_en.html .
The Vatican’s text of the pope’s remarks in Spanish is available
online at:
ces/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080507_sp.html .
END