“LET US REVIEW THE PAST WITH ACCOUNTABILITY AND EMBRACE THE FUTURE WITH COMMITMENT” SAID HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

On 1 January 2013, after the New Year’s thanksgiving Liturgy at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias, His Holiness Aram I received the clergy and laity at the Main Hall of his residence.

The Catholicos began his message with a prayer thanking the Almighty for the past year and said, “The first day of every New Year is an invitation to assess the past year critically and plan the forthcoming year with a sense of responsibility.” He then stated, “God created men and women in his image and delegated them to continue His good work with accountability. We all know well the consequences of their disobedience and that God sent his only Son to the world to restore in human beings the God-given vocation of care, responsibility and accountability. We read this moral message in the New Testament in the parable of the talents (Mathew 25:14-30) and (Luke 19-28).

Addressing the Armenian Nation, His Holiness said, “Today God is asking each one of us to account for our deeds asking the following questions critically: Has the Church lived and transmitted its God-given vocation and mission to our people adequately? Have our community institutions and their leaders acted responsibly towards our people? How far has the leadership in Armenia fulfilled its obligations towards our people? To what extent have I as an Armenian fulfilled my Christian vocation by serving and caring for the community?” Catholicos Aram I reminded the people that “accountability builds trust and the absence of accountability leads to corruption.”

His Holiness then addressed the situation of the Armenian community in Syria and invited every Armenian to respond to the current humanitarian needs of the community and prepare for its rebuilding.

The Catholicos prayed that Karabagh would continue to prosper and expressed his hope that the Presidential election in Armenia, to be held in 2013, will be organized responsibly and will have an in-built mechanism of accountability.

Finally, he asked the diaspora to remain resilient as a community with its Armenian specificity and act as responsible citizens in their host countries, and he invited every Armenian to continue demanding accountability for the Armenian Genocide on the eve of its 100th anniversary and continue living responsibly inspired by the moral values taught by the Church.

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