I wish to respond to Reverend Giragos Chopourian's commentary entitled, "Catholicos  Aram I Calls for Renewal of the Armenian Church." It appeared in the May 4, 2002 issue of TAR, Intl.  

To begin with, I have nothing but the highest regard for Reverend Chopourian. And, knowing the man, I also know him to be of good Christian conscience.  This being so, I am certain that because of his unadulterated level of Christian discipline, he most likely believes that all Christian clerics abide by the same unadulterated disciplines. As for myself, I have some reservations.


To begin with, shortly after Catholicos Karekin II of Cilicia was appointed Catholicos Karekin I of Etchmiadzin, the ARF controlled See of Cilicia appointed Catholicos Aram I to replace him. And since Catholicos Karekin had proposed building a "Golden Bridge" from Cilicia to Etchmiadzin, prior to his becoming the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, it was hoped that Cilicia's new Pontiff would pick up where Karekin left off.  

At the time, as most of us may remember, many of us in North America felt that since our Holy Sees seemed as though they were coming closer together, that at long last, we might also see our divided churches and communities in North America reunited. But this was not to be, because as time went on, the Catholicos Aram's opposition to church unity became more and more apparent..

This became even more apparent when he proclaimed that the Cilician See would go wherever they were summoned regardless of former boundaries. I believe, at the time, that I questioned where such a summons would come from. Thereafter, the building of religiously one, administratively divided churches in North America continued and the church unity movement gradually died on the vine. But let me also say at this juncture, that Etchmiadzin may have also been inadvertently involved in bringing an end to the church unity effort. Let me explain. From the day that Karekin II of Cilicia became Karekin I of Etchmiadzin on April 4, 1995, until he succumbed to cancer on October 5, 1999, he lived a very secluded life.  

Were there many in the See of Etchmiadzin who believed in his "Golden Bridge?" I don't know, but from what I've been told by friends who visited him, he had stated that very few among the Etchmiadzin clerics went out of their way to visit him. Therefore, until I hear differently from verifiable sources, I will have to assume that he was not as welcomed or as revered as he should have been in the Mother See. And if this is so, then the Mother See, along with Cilicia, must bear some of the responsibility as to why the Golden Bridge was never built. And if this is so, then Catholicos Karekin's bold and courageous move from Cilicia to Etchmiadzin was destined to failure from the very beginning. In short, he may have sacrificed the few remaining years of his life facing a stacked deck. What a waste. 


Getting back to Catholicos Aram I, he's articulate and intelligent, but he doesn't practice what he preaches. He calls for a radical renewal of the Armenian Church on one hand. And on the other, he neutralizes it by stating that renewal can only take place through reconciliation and unity--knowing full well that it might be a cold day in hell before Cilicia and Etchmiadzin offer and mutually agree to terms of reconciliation, much less unity.  

On another occasion, he stated that since Cilicia and Etchmiadzin participated in mixing a new batch of Meron together, that we are religiously united, yet I cannot forget how he wanted to establish a Cilician Prelacy in Canada. Is the road to true church unity through more administratively divided churches?  

And how about the way he went around the world barnstorming for the upcoming 1,700th anniversary of the Armenian Church, almost a year before the Mother See commemorated it on the anniversary year.  


All in all, I would like to place more confidence in what Aram I says, and I totally agree with him that the Armenian Church does need some renewal, although I may not agree on what he calls, "renewal." But as things stand today, if Catholicos Aram I was in the business of selling cars, I doubt that I would ever buy a used car from him.  


Joseph Vosbikian