Interview with Staff-Bearer of His Holiness and Very Reverend Fr. Partev Barseghian
– Holy Father, Catholicos of All Armenians, in his opening speech at Bishops’ Synod of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, said that the Bishops’ Synod should become a new shelter on the way to efficiency of the mission of the Church. How historic and unique was this synod?
– Bishops’ Synod was convened after a pause of 6 centuries. Previously, Bishops’ Synods were convened, which, however, was only attended by Holy Etchmiadzin Bishops. The Bishops of the See of Cilicia attended this meeting for the first time. Meeting was attended by 47 bishops of Holy Etchmiadzin and 15 from Anthelia. The uniqueness of the synod was that it was convened by presiding and the blessing of Catholicos of All Armenians and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia and with participation of the whole class of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
– Meeting was not attended by several high-ranking clergymen, including the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Armenian Diocese of France. Weren’t they invited to the meeting?
– The Meeting invitations were sent to all bishops, without exception, months ago. The total number of bishops of the Armenian Church is 75, of which the majority, 62, were present. In any meeting there might be absentees due to health and other problems, and this meeting was not an exception in that sense. As for the absence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Armenian Diocese of France from the meeting, it should be noted that they were also sent invitations. Patriarch of holly through the Archbishop of Patriarchate had informed that he would be out of the country and could not attend the meeting due to his visit to Greece, and no information was received in the Holy See regarding the attendance or non-attendance of Bishop Norvan to the meeting.
– What was the reason for the selection of items of the agenda for the meeting?
– The agenda of the meeting was due to today’s imperatives of the Armenian people. The agenda items could be distinguish in three directions, national that includes the issue of giving sacredness to all Genocide victims, ritual, which considers the issue of uniformity of the ceremony of baptism, and public, with which the church sets up a “Social fund”. It is noteworthy that these three directions are also expressed in Ashtishat’s (in 356) famous church meeting, during which headed by Catholicos Nerses the Great, the Armenian Bishops and princes made decisions on ritual-canonical, national-educational and social-humanitarian issues.
– Were these issues discussed in the Armenian church for the first time?
– No. during the Late Vazgen I and Catholicos Karekin II, these issues were also discussed, although not in this format and involvement.
– How justified is the sacredness of genocide victims?
– First, the church is composed of two parts, the church of Living that are we, and the church of the victorious that are the ones who have finish their earthly life. Those victorious are the Saints, whose intercession is always needed by Living, hence, the Saints are necessary for the church, which identifies the vitality of the church. Second, the behavior of the saints includes teaching episodes, of which the Living may take examples. For example, with the brave image of St. Vardan, we educate our young generation. Given that the Armenian community often is exposed to the “attack” of foreign moralities intruded from outside, as well as our neighboring state often intimidates us to set up a war with us, we think that, in our days, more are the heroic episodes representing the lives of the Armenian saints and be provided to the public, stronger will be the nation morally and psychologically. Thirdly, 100-year anniversary of genocide is ahead, and the sacredness of the victims is our responsibility and worshiping for the faith and fatherland in the memory of martyred Armenian sons. Many examples are known, when many of them, changing the religion could be saved, but refused to do so. And according to the church laws on sacredness, such people deserve to be classified as a Saint. If, nowadays, the Russian Orthodox Church classifies the Russian soldiers as saints who were deceased in Chechnya war for the faith, why cannot the Armenian church classify the victims of the Genocide deceased for the faith.
– Why the issue of unification of the ceremony of baptism important?
– Baptism is the first of 7 sacraments of our church, and it directly relates to the believer’s salvation, it is the door and pre-entrance to the other sacraments and is approved by Christ. Today, different from each other baptism ceremonies are conducted in Armenian churches all over the world, and very often the believers attending the baptism ceremonies at the various churches rightly complain about the form of the baptism, length and language differences. Therefore, unification of the baptism ceremony will put an end to these complaints. Throughout the world, the Armenian church is one and it is necessary that this being one is reflected in everything, including execution of sacraments.
– What will the “Social Fund” of the church give to people?
– Often, the church is wrongly accused of acting beyond the spiritual domain. These accusations are devoid of historical basis. During the critical moments of the Armenian people, the church was forced to assume the holy task of preservation of the nation. The Church could not, so as nowadays, cannot remain indifferent to the experiment and hardships of its people, as in Avarayr, Sardarapat and Artsakh. In this sense, the church, to its best, is able to feel the pulse of the Armenian people. With its salvation of soul and Holy gospel, the church is always beside its people, not only with its strength during the war, but also with material support when people are in need. Establishing a “Social Fund”, the church is continuing its support in favor of solution of issues like poverty, unemployment and immigration. This does not mean that the church was not engaged in social problems before. Under the auspices of Holy Etchmiadzin, various projects of orphan and poor care are carried out, but with the establishment of this Foundation, a great impetus will be transferred to the social mission of the church.
– Why the issue of resignation of the French Diocese and the letter of the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem recently receiving wide public attention was not discussed in the meeting?
– The resignation of Bishop Norvan may no longer be a subject of discussion since the resignation of the Bishop was accepted by the Supreme Spiritual Council and approved by the Catholicos of All Armenians. Diocesan Council of the Armenian Diocese of France is already tied with their upcoming October elections of the new Diocese leader. Consequently, the theme is no longer out dated. With
regard to the letter of Patriarch of Jerusalem, it should be noted that such events have had happened in the life of inside the church. We are confident that, as previously similar inside church problems were settled, so nowadays, with the help of the Lord and leadership of Catholicos of All Armenians, this issue will get resolved.
– Finally, how do you assess the relationship between the Holy See and the Anthelia in this context?
– The situation between the two seats was quite changed in 1952-56, when cooling of bilateral relations took place, which had its direct impact on the unity and solidarity of the Armenian people all over the world. The reasons for cooling of relations between two seats were also due to the geopolitical situation for that period when the Holy Etchmiadzin Church was a part of the Soviet Armenian of the Soviet Union, while the Seat Anthelia was out of the Soviet Union. Regardless of Catholicos between the Holy See and the Great House of Cilicia, the relations entered into a new stage. The late Vazgen I and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II also invested too much effort to get to this day. In this respect, September 24-27 is a turning point in the modern history of the Armenian Church. Hence, the view that the barrier is deepening between the two seats, we believe it is not serious. Of course, there are problems that sooner or later will find their own solution. Catholicos of All Armenians addressed in his speech, “Along with these successes, we encounter to many unresolved issues within the church, as well as the problems that are the consequences of the absence of the religious right, laws and regulations based on canonical principles of the church, which often gives rise to misunderstanding and arbitrary displays, causing difficulties and complicating desired progress in our spiritual life.” The Bishops’ joint Synod gives reason to believe that, in the future too, Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, consolidated under one roof, are ready to implement the possible and to contribute their efforts for the welfare of the Armenian people and for the unification of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Interviewer Gohar HAKOBYAN
