Ecumenical and inter-religious relations remain one of the primary areas of the Church’s mission. The Armenian Church has taken an active part in both global and local ecumenical and inter-religious movements. In 1961, the ecumenical engagement of the Catholicosate was expanded and intensified when it became a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC). In 1975, at the Nairobi Assembly, Archbishop Karekin Sarkissian (later Catholicos Karekin II) was elected as Vice-Moderator of the WCC Central and Executive Committees. In 1991, at the Canberra Assembly, Archbishop Aram Keshishian (currently Catholicos Aram I) was elected Moderator of the WCC Central and Executive Committees and was re-elected in 1998 at the Harare Assembly.
The visits of the Catholicoi to the Pope, as well as joint declarations, meetings and consultations with the representatives of the Roman Catholic Church greatly enhanced the warm relations between the Catholicosate and the Roman Catholic Church on international, regional, and local levels. As one of the initiators of the ecumenical movement in the Middle East, it brought significant contribution to the foundation of the Middle East Council of Churches in 1974. It played a key role in promoting the theological dialogue between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. In 1997, it initiated the Fellowship of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Catholicosate continues its bilateral ecumenical relations with the Churches of the Reformation, the Anglican Communion, and with various ecumenical and international organizations, and actively participates in theological dialogues.
In 2010, the Catholicosate became a member of the Christian Conference of Asia. It participates in the meetings of the Coordinating Committee of the United Bible Societies and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
In 1997, His Holiness Aram I established the Department for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations to further strengthen mutual collaboration with our ecumenical and inter-religious partners. The department organizes ecumenical formation seminars and coordinates the ecumenical activities of the dioceses.
Through various initiatives and activities the Catholicosate promotes tolerance and builds mutual confidence between Christian and Muslim communities in the Middle East and across the globe. It initiates a number of inter-religious dialogues and particularly inter-religious seminars and conferences on regional and international levels and organizes meetings of the representatives of world religions in Antelias. The clergy, men, women and youth are members of various inter-church and inter-religious organizations, commissions and committees.
