THE INTER-DIOCESAN ARMENIAN YOUTH CONFERENCE OF THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA CONCLUDES

09/03/2011

The two-day conference organized by the Youth Department of the Holy See of Cilicia, held at the Zarehian Seminary in Bikfaya, has concluded.

The conference began with the opening speech of His Holiness Aram I, in which he invited the youth to play a leading role in the life of the Armenian Church and community. Presenters spoke of issues that concern youth; through group discussions, the youth, who represented different continents and dioceses, shared their experiences and tried to identify common concerns.

At the end of the conference, the participants adopted the following statement:

1. We affirm that we have an important role to play in the life of the Armenian Orthodox Church and in all of our communities.

2. We urge our leaders and parents to listen to our problems, understand the challenges we are facing and cooperate with us to find solutions.

3. Based on the experience of this conference, we ask the Youth Department of the Catholicosate to continue organizing similar gatherings on Diocesan and Inter-Diocesan levels.

4. We need to strengthen relations between Diocesan youth-work and the activities of the Youth Department of the Catholicosate by sharing information, by consulting one another and by enhancing programmatic cooperation.

5. We ask the Catholicosate and all Dioceses to create a special web page on their respective web sites in order to widen the youth network.

We thank His Holiness Aram I for giving voice to the youth, and the Youth Committee for organizing this event.

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