Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

 Your Eminences, Brothers in Christ, and Dear Participants of the Symposium, 

We greet with boundless joy the opening of this International Symposium in Holy Etchmiadzin, dedicated to the 1,700th Anniversary of our dedicated holy shrine, the Universal Mother Cathedral. We bring our Pontifical blessings to all participants of the symposium, and our appreciation that you responded with love and readiness to the invitation of the Mother See. 

Together with you today, we have the miraculous opportunity to once again live the sacred mystery of God-built Holy Etchmiadzin, which is the exceptional gift of the Heavenly Father to our people. From this holy shrine, sanctified by the descent of God, the Light of Christianity shone forth 1,700 years ago, and spread over all of Armenia and the Armenians. Wherever we lived in exile, our gaze was directed towards the cradle of our faith, our Only-Begotten Descended spiritual center - the Mother Cathedral of All Armenians - standing solemnly on the slopes of Ararat, and always calling to us and uniting us. The hands of our great Saint Gregory and King Trdat have touched her prayer-emanating stones, our blessed and gratitude-worthy Pontiffs have kneeled before her Holy Altar of Descent, Saint Mashtots Vardapet taught the newly discovered Armenian Alphabet to Armenian children under her arches; and in this place, brave Armenian warriors made their oaths and received blessings prior to battles for faith and motherland. This is how we know Holy Etchmiadzin, and this is how we shall always recognize her, "as the source of strength and the treasury of the Armenian soul; as the love and banner for freedom; as the pride and victory of the Armenian soul. We know her as our adorable Mother, who unites us together with her tender affection, fortifies and defends us in love." Pontifical Encyclical No. 124, 2003 

Dear ones, today once again with your scientific investigations, you commemorate the great anniversary of the Mother Cathedral. Your reports on her history, architecture and other issues, will once again present the spiritual center of our Church - Holy Etchmiadzin - with her sacred mission in our pan-national life, and in the great family of Christian Churches. Her mission is always the same - yesterday, today and forever; it is the mission of keeping alive the love of God and the light of faith in the soul of our people. Her mission has also turned into an illuminated path for the Armenian living with the values of his homeland; a path that leads with faith in the Resurrection, to the present-day free Armenia. The greatest treasure of faith streaming from Holy Etchmiadzin in their soul, and the rich inheritance of their ancestors' resting on their shoulders, our people are creating their new life, bringing their participation to the cooperation between peoples and governments, in the name of establishing peace and progress in the world. 

Today, when spiritual values and moral principles are in retreat, when the material and the physical are turning into the preferable, the reevaluation of the spiritual in the life of society is a serious concern for our people as well. It is proven by history and testimony, that all evils - hate, lawlessness, violence, indifference toward man and towards his needs and pain, are born from a lack of faith in God. The advances of science and new technical possibilities cannot become nourishment for the soul of man, and particularly cannot answer that question of how shall he be happy in his family, his circle of friends, and in society. Law and legislation, even if very well prepared, cannot work without the virtue of the soul of man, the source of which is faith - the communication between God and his creation. Understanding this with faith and the traditions of our forefathers, the Mother See continues her mission; and Glory to God - today she is experiencing a new awakening. Churches are being built and reconstructed everywhere, evangelization and manifold spiritual educational activities are intensifying daily. It is a spiritual and national renaissance in the diaspora and the homeland. God was pleased to raise up our people; He was pleased to transfigure the souls of the Armenians, and with the 1,700 year-old Holy Etchmiadzin, He blessed the journey of our faith to a new millennium. 

Bowing before our Lord's Holy Altar of Descent, we raise a prayer up to heaven asking that the multi-arched doors of God's light and blessing always be open before the land of the Armenians; and that the path which leads the Armenians to the cradle of the Armenian soul - to the Only-Begotten Descended Mother Cathedral, always be well traveled. 

Dear attendees, on the happy occasion of the opening of this symposium dedicated to the 1,700th Anniversary of the Mother Cathedral, we bring our special Pontifical appreciation to its organizers, the oath-bearing members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin, who with love, and by investing all effort, conducted the preparatory work for this symposium. We believe that the symposium will bring its important contribution to the expansion of the knowledge of the Armenian Church, and at the same time, present the current imperatives in our national-ecclesiastical life, and once again by evaluating the mission of the Armenian Church, will become a new impetus in our Christian life. 

We ask for the Lord's reinforcement for all of you, and wish good progress filled with results for the activities of the symposium. 

May the grace, love and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with us and with all. Amen.