Pope and Top Armenian Prelate Press for Mideast Peace

by Rev. L. Humphrey Walz

Pope John Paul II and Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church have called for the revitalization of churches in the Middle East, for a “just, comprehensive and durable peace” in the region, and for the resolution of one of the most difficult issues in the Middle East peace process the “problem of the holy city of Jerusalem.” (Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, heads a large Armenian community in Lebanon.)

According to Ecumenical News International (Geneva), their joint plea for peace in the Middle East was made during an historic meeting in Rome. The meeting was held in late January in the course of Aram’s first visit to the Vatican after his 1995 selection as Catholicos of Cilicia, Lebanon.

“Ecumenism is not a choice anymore.”

The Armenian Apostolic Church, which belongs to the Oriental Orthodox tradition, is one of the world’s most ancient churches. In the year 2001, the Armenian church will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia’s acceptance of Christianity as the country’s official religion. The church has 6 million members, about half of them living in Armenia, and the rest mainly in the Middle East, Western Europe, North America and Australia.

In the past, relations between the Armenian and Roman Catholic churches have suffered because of theological issues, but recently there has been increasing contact between them. In December Pope John Paul invited Karekin I, Catholicos of Etchmiadzin in Armenia, to Rome.

Catholicos Aram, whose visit to the Vatican was another sign of the growing cordial relationship between the two churches, told leading Vatican officials: “In view of the emerging concerns and challenges to the churches, ecumenism is not a choice anymore.” Aram I, who is also moderator of the central and executive committees of the World Council of Churches, added that “new models of ecumenism” were needed, with special emphasis on “the expectations of the faithful on the local level.”

The pope and Catholicos Aram issued a joint declaration stressing “the vital importance of sincere dialogue” and expressing their conviction “that in this century in which the Christian communities have been more profoundly engaged in ecumenical dialogue, a genuine rapprochement sustained by reciprocal respect and understanding constitutes the only sure and viable way leading to full communion.”

Both leaders said it was important for the clergy and lay people of their churches to “promote the dignity and rights of every human being” and to work for the renewal of Christian life. “Due to ideologies expressed in materialistic values and the disastrous effects of injustice and violence, the world today poses a profound threat to the integrity and identity of the Christian faith,” they said.

North Park Presents Media Panel On Middle East

Contrasting opinions from the secular and Christian media were the focus of discussions at a special seminar about the difficulties encountered by journalists when reporting on the Middle East. The event, “Covering the Middle East,” was sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Communication Arts Department at North Park College in Chicago on Feb. 19. The seminar considered the controversial question of media bias in reporting news and events in the Middle East.

The seminar was divided into two sessions. The first centered on the Christian media. David Neff, senior editor from Christianity Today; Trudy Bush, associate editor of the Christian Century; and Jerry Rose, president of Channel 38, made up the panel. The second session included Jerome McDonald, producer of “Noon Day,” WBEZ-FM, National Public Radio; and Stephen Franklin, former Jerusalem correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Each panelist drew from his or her own experience covering the Middle East and evaluated journalistic coverage in general. Afterwards there was time for a discussion and questions.

“Covering the Middle East” was the fourth event sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies during the 1996-97 academic year. On Feb. 23 it presented Canon Naim Ateek, rector of St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem and also director of Sabeel Theological Center and author of Justice and Only Justice, for a lecture on “The Future of Jerusalem.”

On April 19 it is sponsoring two lectures on “Christian Responses to Anti-Semitism: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Raul Wallenberg.”

Established in November 1995, the Center is the first evangelical Christian Middle Eastern studies center in North America. Grounded in Christian values and committed to an ecumenical evangelical vision, it seeks understanding and reconciliation among Christians and with the Jewish and Muslim communities through academic study, publishing, conferences and guest lectures, consulting services and cultural exchanges.

Executive director Donald E. Wagner, D.Min., is the author of Peace of Armageddon: The Unfolding Drama of the Middle East Peace Accord (1993) and Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians (1995). Prior to his position at North Park, Rev. Dr. Wagner was national director of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (1980-89) and director of Middle East programs for Mercy Corps International (1990-95). He also is a recipient of the Human Rights Achievement Award from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (1993).

Annually he leads a pilgrimage to the Middle East for better understanding of biblical roots, the early church and Islam. This year’s March 7-18 journey was to Egypt with Prof. Marilyn Borst of the University of Houston, who has led seven such expeditions on her own. The pilgrimage began with a three-day retreat in company with leading Coptic Orthodox theologians, monks and bishops to share in their rich Eastern Christian spirituality at—by special arrangement with Pope Shenouda St. Bisoi monastery in the western desert, birthplace of Christian monasticism.

MECC Assists in Iranian Earthquake Crises

The Middle East Council of Churches is participating in evaluating ongoing needs and helping with rehabilitation in the wake of the two major earthquakes that devastated remote mud villages in mountainous northeastern Iran in early February. The quakes were centered near Bojnurd, about 360 miles northeast of Tehran, the capital. Villages in the area were either leveled or heavily damaged, and rescue work was hampered by damaged roads and landslides. The Bojnurd area has an estimated population of 14,000 people. More than 2,800 houses in the region were severely damaged.