Full Text of Pope Benedict's Speech at Meeting with Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
in Jerusalem
(May 15, 2009) Your Beatitude, I greet you with fraternal affection in the Lord,
and I offer prayerful good wishes for your health and your ministry. I am grateful
for the opportunity to visit this Cathedral Church of Saint James in the heart of
the ancient Armenian quarter of Jerusalem, and to meet the distinguished clergy of
the Patriarchate, together with the members of the Armenian community of the Holy
City. Our meeting today, characterized by an atmosphere of cordiality and friendship,
is another step along the path towards the unity which the Lord desires for all his
disciples. In recent decades we have witnessed, by God’s grace, a significant growth
in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church.
I count it a great blessing to have met in this past year with the Catholicos and
Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians Karekin II and with the Catholicos of Cilicia Aram
I. Their visits to the Holy See, and the moments of prayer which we shared, have strengthened
us in fellowship and confirmed our commitment to the sacred cause of promoting Christian
unity. In a spirit of gratitude to the Lord, I wish also to express my appreciation
of the unwavering commitment of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the continuing theological
dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. This dialogue,
sustained by prayer, has made progress in overcoming the burden of past misunderstandings,
and offers much promise for the future. A particular sign of hope is the recent document
on the nature and mission of the Church produced by the Mixed Commission and presented
to the Churches for study and evaluation. Together let us entrust the work of the
Mixed Commission once more to the Spirit of wisdom and truth, so that it can bear
abundant fruit for the growth of Christian unity, and advance the spread of the Gospel
among the men and women of our time. From the first Christian centuries, the Armenian
community in Jerusalem has had an illustrious history, marked not least by an extraordinary
flourishing of monastic life and culture linked to the holy places and the liturgical
traditions which developed around them. This venerable Cathedral Church, together
with the Patriarchate and the various educational and cultural institutions attached
to it, testifies to that long and distinguished history. I pray that your community
will constantly draw new life from its rich traditions, and be confirmed in its witness
to Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3:10) in this Holy City.
I likewise assure the families present, and particularly the children and young people,
of a special remembrance in my prayers. Dear friends, I ask you in turn to pray with
me that all the Christians of the Holy Land will work together with generosity and
zeal in proclaiming the Gospel of our reconciliation in Christ, and the advent of
his Kingdom of holiness, justice and peace. Your Beatitude, I thank you once more
for your gracious welcome, and I cordially invoke God’s richest blessings upon you
and upon all the clergy and faithful of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Holy
Land. May the joy and peace of the Risen Christ be always with you.