20081124 - cwnews.com - Pope Benedict XVI said that he is "saddened by the escalation of persecution and violence against Christians in parts of the Middle East and elsewhere," as he met on November 24 with the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church in that region. The Pontiff told Catholics Aram I of Cilicia that Christian unity could help to end that injustice, among others. "The united voice and the common witness of the Church in a polarized world is the call of Christ, which is more imperative and urgent today than ever before," he said.
Pope Benedict told the Armenian prelate that he hoped the latest theological talks between representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox churches would "clarify theological issues which have divided us in the past but now appear open to greater consensus." The Armenian Apostolic Church dates back to the year 506, when the Christian leaders of Armenia broke away from the Catholic Church over disagreements with the doctrines put forth by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Those theological disputes have been largely resolved, and in 1996 the worldwide leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin I, joined Pope John Paul II in a common statement of faith, putting the Christological disputes between their two churches to rest. A joint theological commission is now seeking common solutions to other remaining theological differences.
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