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POPE FRANCIS: THE BLOOD OF MARTYRS IS THE SEED OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
Catholic Culture
May 8 2014
Catholic World News - May 08, 2014
Pope Francis received the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
audience on May 8 and said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of
Christian unity.
The Pontiff's remarks come one year before the centenary of the
Armenian genocide, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians perished
at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish regime.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is among the Oriental Orthodox churches
that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the
Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). Since Vatican II, ecumenical
talks have produced closer ties between the Armenian Church and the
Holy See, and in 1996, Armenian Patriarch Karekin I, the predecessor of
the current prelate, joined Pope John Paul II in a common statement of
faith, ending the theological disputes that had divided their churches.
After paying tribute to the progress made in relations between the
Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, Pope Francis said
that "the number of disciples who shed their blood for Christ in
the tragic events of the last century is certainly higher than that
of the martyrs of the first centuries, and in this martyrology the
children of the Armenian nation have a place of honor."
"As in the ancient Church the blood of martyrs became the seed of new
Christians, so in our day the blood of many Christians has become the
seed of unity," the Pope continued. "The ecumenism of suffering, the
ecumenism of martyrdom, the ecumenism of blood is a potent reminder
to walk along the path of reconciliation between the Churches, with
determination and trusting abandonment to the action of the Spirit."
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=21342
Catholic Culture
May 8 2014
Catholic World News - May 08, 2014
Pope Francis received the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
audience on May 8 and said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of
Christian unity.
The Pontiff's remarks come one year before the centenary of the
Armenian genocide, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians perished
at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish regime.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is among the Oriental Orthodox churches
that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the
Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). Since Vatican II, ecumenical
talks have produced closer ties between the Armenian Church and the
Holy See, and in 1996, Armenian Patriarch Karekin I, the predecessor of
the current prelate, joined Pope John Paul II in a common statement of
faith, ending the theological disputes that had divided their churches.
After paying tribute to the progress made in relations between the
Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church, Pope Francis said
that "the number of disciples who shed their blood for Christ in
the tragic events of the last century is certainly higher than that
of the martyrs of the first centuries, and in this martyrology the
children of the Armenian nation have a place of honor."
"As in the ancient Church the blood of martyrs became the seed of new
Christians, so in our day the blood of many Christians has become the
seed of unity," the Pope continued. "The ecumenism of suffering, the
ecumenism of martyrdom, the ecumenism of blood is a potent reminder
to walk along the path of reconciliation between the Churches, with
determination and trusting abandonment to the action of the Spirit."
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=21342