Our thanks to
these lovely people who have taken the time to
thank and
compliment
us on the website and newsletters we have been privileged to offer them
Dear
Friends,
This is to let you know that I read your information news with great
interest. In fact I always look forward to receiving the next
edition. Keep it up. You are doing a good job.
With regards,
Ishmael Noko
General Secretary
Lutheran World Federation
3 March
2008
*********
To the Webmaster of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
I visit your website regularly. I am impressed by
your account of the keynote address of His Holiness Aram I at the
conference organized by the Arab Group for Muslim-Christian
Dialogue, held in Beirut 28 February to 2 March 2008, and would like
to use this opportunity to thank His Holiness Aram I for his
Spiritual leadership.
I am a social scientist and interested in
inter-generational and inter-religious dialogue and its impact on
society. Whether in his sermons, pastoral writings, or official
speeches, His Holiness has described religious life not as passive
prayer or attendance at the Church services, nor as the vocation of
clergy alone. Rather, he tells us that it belongs to all the people
of God, i.e. children, youth and adults. In his messages he
constantly reminds us that because today’s world is religiously and
culturally plural, becoming aware of one’s own identity and
acknowledging difference is an important tool for us in the Armenian
Diaspora to understand social phenomena and human relations. In
other words, using His Holiness’ expression, he is taking the church
to the people so that they become participants and not mere
observers both in church and society.
I am impressed not only with what he is saying,
but with how he is communicating his message. It was such a joy to
see the pictures of Armenian children on Palm Sunday and on the day
of the feast of the Presentation of Jesus to the Temple. The
presence of the children in the Church was not only a message to the
children that the church is their home, but also that they are loved
and heard. It was also a pedagogical lesson to the parents. The
photos made me remember a caption related to the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child, which said: Children were to be heard and
not hurt.
Through the occasional letters, ‘Dialogue with
the Youth,’ His Holiness is assuring the youth that the Church is
accompanying them in facing their problems, because accompaniment is
a quintessential part of the vocation and mission of the Church.
Therefore, any response to their quest in their educational
institutions, work-life, and all other relations should be enriched
and be enriching through dialogue and reflection between adults,
youth and clergy (i.e. family, church and peers), the whole
community.
Finally, in the keynote address of today, after
discussing what entails religious pluralism, His Holiness Aram I had
the courage to describe the difficult issues that few others want to
touch, and which, are at the core of existing mutual distrust. For
example, the question of co-citizenship is at the root of Christians
and Muslims living together. If His Holiness Aram I has the courage
to raise such a delicate question, are the laity ready to bring
their theoretical and practical contributions to support the efforts
of the church? Are the Armenians in Diaspora, especially university
students, ready, first, to respond to the invitation of the church,
and, second, offer their experience of being the Armenia Christian
Diaspora as a resource for others to learn?
F. Convertino
New York, NY USA
29 February 2008
*********
Kassel,
Germany, May 14th, 2003
Dear Sir, it's the second time that I received the Newsletterfrom the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia. Please,accept
my heartfelt gratitude. Since I lived in Lebanon in theseventies
as pastor of the German speaking protestantChurch
and working since than at the Evangelical Academy.
Hofgeismar
as secretary for Churches and Theology of theMiddle East I have been very much interested in the life ofyour
church which I visited several times during regular visitsin
the last two decades in Lebanon and Syria.Therefore I'd be thankful receiving your Newsletter further on.
With
best greetings. Yours in Christ,
Pastor
Georg Richter
*********
Dear
Friends,
I
just wanted to express my joy and appreciation for the
Catholicosate's Newsletter. I read every one of them and I must say
that I find them very informative indeed. The Newsletters help the
reader to follow the events of the Catholicosate. But they have also
a pedagogical value. The latest one on Palm Sunday helped me to
understand this very rich tradition of the Armenian Church including
the ritual of opening of the gate. I join you in praising God for
the Spiritual renewal now being experienced in your Church.
Let me also take this opportunity of wishing you a truly blessed
Easter. Please convey this and my general appreciation of the
Newsletter to His Holiness Aram I.