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This particular decision by Karekin, made without discussion with any bishops (most of whom protested) and any other people to my knowledge, is a major step towards uniting the Catholic and Eastern Churches. This, in my opinion is a worthy objective, but capitulating to the Catholic views on matters such as this is not how it should be done in my opinion. Just put these matters aside and unite on a higher level.
VATICAN CITY (Reuter) - The Roman Catholic and Armenian
Churches Friday formally buried a theological controversy that
had divided them for 1,500 years.
Pope John Paul and Karekin I, spiritual leader of the
world's some six million Armenian Christians, issued a common
declaration officially ending the controversy over the nature of
Christ.
The controversy dates back to the 6th century when the
Council of Chalcedon condemned those, including Armenian
Christians, who asserted that Christ had only a divine and not
also a human nature.
Thursday's declaration spoke of the dual nature of Christ
and said both sides agreed that past controversies "should not
continue to influence the life and witness of the Church
today."
The declaration, signed at the end of Karekin's official
visit to the Vatican, said past disputes were due to
"linguistic, cultural and political factors."
It capped renewed contacts and theological dialogue between
the two Churches in the past three decades. In the declaration,
both the Pope and Karekin said they were committed to eventual
unity between their two Churches.
The Armenian Church is one of the so-called Ancient Churches
of the East which split away from Byzantine Christianity before
the Great Schism of 1054, which divided the Eastern and Western
Churches.
Karekin's official title is His Holiness Karekin I Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. He resides in
Etchmiadzin, near the Armenian capital Yerevan.
The Armenian Church is an independent Christian Church
introduced to Armenia by the apostles Jude and Bartholomew. In
AD 301 Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as
a state religion.
The Armenian Church has various patriarchates around the
world and has members in the countries of the former Soviet
Union, North and South America, the Middle East, Europe and
Asia.
REUTER
DELEGATION ASKS CATHOLICOS TO BE MINDFUL OF DOCTRINE
("Jamanak" /11 April 1997/)
A delegation of three bishops paid a visit to the Catholicos of All
Armenians today and handed him an official letter asking that he consult
the college of bishops before signing any christological statement while
representing the Armenian Church.
Representing the many clergy and faithful, who are concerned about the
christological statement that His Holiness co-signed with the Pope of
the Catholic Church, were Their Excellencies Archbishop Tiran Gureghian
of Moscow, Bishop Hagop Kilinjian of Uruguay and Bishop Barkev
Martirossian of Artsakh.
All of the above think that His Holiness the Catholicos has signed a
Christological formula which is Chalcedonian.
Authoritative comments against the christological cosigned by the
Catholicos and the Pope were published by the Revd Dr Nerses Nersessian
of the British Museum (U.K.), the Revd Fr Mesrop Aramian of the Ganzasar
Theological Center (Armenia) and Prof Dr Hagop Nersoyan (USA).
In the joint declaration of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and His
Holiness Catholicos Karekin I one reads: "His Divinity is united to His
humanity in the Person of the
Only-begotten Son of God". The above-mentioned scholars believe that
this is a repetition of the fundamental statement of Chalcedonian
christology and is a serious diversion from
the christological tradition of the Armenian Church.
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