The meeting between His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Excellency Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
09.09.2018
The meeting between His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Excellency Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Chairman of Protestant Churches in Germany took place on September 9, 2018 in Holy Etchmiadzin.
The official delegation led by His Excellency arrived at Holy Etchmiadzin upon the invitation of the Catholicos of All Armenians extended in October 2017, when His Holiness Karekin II paid an official visit to Germany on the occasion of the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Reformation in Europe.
There was an exchange of official speeches during the meeting. His Holiness Karekin II and His Excellency Bishop Heinrich, summing up the discourses and discussions, reaffirmed their willingness to promote the existing relations and cooperation between the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and the Council of Protestant Churches of Germany:
«Today, more than ever, we are witnessing a reality unfolding before our eyes, of ongoing conflicts and injustice on ethnic, economic, political and religious grounds, in which the cooperation between different Christian denominations and the necessity of common mission, as well consolidation of joint efforts to face modern challenges with common prayers, becomes imperative.
Today, in order to strengthen our common mission and cooperation between our two Churches, we urge our church officials and faithful to cooperate in strengthening our joint Christian mission:
To promote and contribute to the development of the theological education of clergy in order to identify the centuries-old traditions and theological-ecclesiological features of our two churches.
To make efforts, especially at the level of local communities to strengthen the cooperation between our churches in common witnessing of our faith and to create ground for the further development of the existing inter-church dialogue between the Oriental Orthodox and Protestant Church families.
In the context of ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, to cooperate in maintaining the centuries-old Christian historical presence in these regions, and to contribute to the inclusion and integration of refugees in new societies through different social programs.
We pray together for a change of hearts and minds in all the believers of the world and appeal the leaders of nations and those who are in a position to make positive changes in the world, to listen to the plea of millions of human beings who long for peace and justice in the world, to make more efforts to implement the projects of bettering a peaceful coexistence between different ethnic and religious communities in the world and of peacefully settling conflicts.
May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth that guides us into all the truth (John 16,13) strengthen every effort to build bridges of love and brotherhood between us. From Holy Etchmiadzin we call on all our believers to join us in prayer and glorify the indivisible Holy Trinity now and always and forever and ever. Amen».
