ECUMENICAL NEWSIn opening the ECUMENICAL NEWS section our intention is to share, as much as possible on regular basis, with the faithful of the Armenian Church all over the world, with the Churches, Christians and our ecumenical partners ecumenical news and concerns, and important inter-church and inter-faith events and developments.
Here are excerpts from the general audience of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday, January 21, 2009, in Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican:
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began last Sunday and will conclude this Sunday. This is a beautiful spiritual initiative, which is spreading more and more among Christians, in harmony, and we could say, in response to the pressing invocation that Jesus directed to the Father from the Upper Room: "That they may all be one, that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:21).
This year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity proposes for our meditation and prayer words taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel: "That They May Become One in Your Hand" (37:17). The theme was chosen by an ecumenical group from Korea and then revised for its international use by the Mixed Committee of Prayer, formed by representatives of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of the Churches of Geneva.
The week is also a conducive occasion for thanking the Lord for how much he has conceded already "to join" one to another, divided Christians, and the Churches themselves and ecclesial communities. This spirit has animated the Catholic Church, which, during the last year, has progressed with firm conviction and sure hope, maintaining fraternal and respectful relations with all the Churches and ecclesial communities of East and West. In the diversity of situations, sometimes more positive, and sometimes more difficult, it has worked to never fail in the effort of implementing every effort for the restoration of full unity. The relationships between the Churches and the theological dialogues have continued giving encouraging signs of spiritual convergence. I myself have had the joy of meeting, here in the Vatican and in the course of my apostolic trips, Christians coming from every horizon.
I have welcomed with joy on three occasions the ecumenical patriarch, His Holiness Bartholomew I, and -- an extraordinary happening -- we heard him take the floor, with fraternal ecclesial warmth and with convinced trust in the future, during the recent assembly of the synod of bishops. I have had the pleasure of receiving the two catholicoi of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Holiness Karekin II of Etchmiadzin and His Holiness Aram I of Antelias. And finally, I have shared the sorrow of the Patriarchate of Moscow at the passing of our beloved brother in Christ, Patriarch His Holiness Alexy II, and I continue remaining in communion of prayer with these our brothers who prepare to choose the new patriarch of that venerated and great Orthodox Church.
Likewise, I have had the chance to meet with representatives of the diverse Christian Communions of the West, with whom continues the dialogue about the important testimony that Christians should give today in harmony, in a world ever more divided and facing so many challenges of a cultural, social, economic and ethical character. For these and for so many other meetings, dialogues and gestures of fraternity that the Lord has permitted us to be able to carry out, let us give thanks together with joy.
21 January 2009, Zenit International News Agency,
LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
US church leaders attending the annual meeting of the United States Conference for the World Council of Churches, 2-4 December 2008, in Washington sent the following letter to President Obama.
His Grace Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Ecumenical Officer Armenian Apostolic Church of America, is one of the signatories.
The President 20 January 2009
Dear Mr President,
We greet you as your sisters and brothers in Christ, especially because you have been a part of the fellowship of the World Council of Churches, representing over 560 million Christians in nearly 350 churches, denominations, and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world. You are constantly in our prayers.
We want you to know of the excitement about your inauguration as the 44th President of the United States felt by us and so many around the world, who are encouraged by your commitment to rekindle hope and your vision for this country and our world. We are especially inspired by how you have engaged our youth, moving them to action and signaling the real possibility that another world is possible, and that they can be among those from whom ideas and leadership are sought over the course of your administration.
We also share the soberness of the present time as you take office. The challenges are enormous and formidable. They are found in every sector of this society and, indeed, across the entire spectrum of the human family worldwide. So many people in this world of abundance struggle with poverty; we are called by God to address the needs of the poor. So many places of this world are broken by violence and war; we are called by Christ to be peacemakers.
Ours is not to point fingers at your new administration and say “Fix it.” Rather, ours is to roll up our sleeves and partner with you to help bring about the changes that are so desperately needed for the United States and the world to more closely reflect God’s vision for humankind and all of creation. Ours is to call us all into account when we do not follow that vision.
It is a vision described by the prophet Micah, and it reflects our deep hope for this country and for all the countries of the world:
“…nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken” (Micah 4:3-4).
The prophet’s words lift up the kind of peace that goes beyond the cessation of war to that of true shalom. They describe the kind of peace that is built on a foundation of trust and security. Micah’s vision implies a world in which creation is thriving and everyone has enough. It implies a world of justice, where we treat one another as the beloved children of God.
Much is required of you and us if we are to begin to turn things around. We must take responsibility for and work together to:
· Repair the breach of trust between individuals and entire nations, and replenish goodwill with our neighbors near and far; · Re-collect us back together, not as red and blue states, but as the United States of America; · Rekindle and lift up the common good over self-interest and greed; · Restore the sense of human dignity of each person regardless of race or class; · Recognize our own complicity in building a predatory economy on the backs of those most vulnerable, and reconstruct an economy with an emphasis not just on the middle class, but on the poor; · Renew a concrete, measurable commitment to human rights; · Rebuild an education system that attends to the needs of all of society; · Replenish God’s good creation in whatever ways possible; · Recommit ourselves to the right of every person to have access to health care.
For its member churches, the World Council of Churches is a unique space: one in which we can reflect, speak, act, worship and work together, challenge and support each other, share and debate with each other. We hope to share a similar space with you and your administration and welcome the opportunity to work together for this common vision of the prophet Micah.
May you hold onto those things that have tended your soul up to this point. May you always find Sabbath time for yourself and your family. May you draw deeply on the faith that has brought you safe thus far. May you be lifted up when you are down, and may you listen carefully for the still small voice of the God who loves you unconditionally.
We close with a pastoral prayer by Martin Luther King, Jr, whose words in 1956 are most fitting as we step into this new day:
O God, our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this golden privilege to worship thee, the only true God of the universe. We come to thee today, grateful that thou hast kept us through the long night of the past and ushered us into the challenge of the present and the bright hope of the future. We are mindful, O God, that man [sic] cannot save himself, for man is not the measure of things and humanity is not God. Bound by our chains of sins and finiteness, we know we need a Savior. We thank thee, O God, for the spiritual nature of man. We are in nature but we live above nature. Help us never to let anybody or any condition pull us so low as to cause us to hate. Give us strength to love our enemies and to do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. We thank thee for thy Church, founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee. Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through all eternity. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace, help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children, Black, White, Red, Brown, Yellow will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the kingdom of our Lord and of our God, we pray. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
The Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson
Moderator, United States Conference for the World Council of Churches
& Members of the Board, United States Conference for the World Council of Churches
Members of the Board, Heads of Churches1 & Associate Members
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