Remarks given by Reverend Jack Johnson

on 10-08-07 on the occasion of an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast

upon the visit of His Holiness Karekin II

Brothers and Sisters in Christ!  It is a great honor and privilege to welcome you, your Holiness on behalf of the Massachusetts Council of Churches.  Our Council, a century old institution is a state wide partnership of 17 Orthodox and Protestant denominations here in our Commonwealth whose members include seventeen hundred congregations.  We too are joined by the four Roman Catholic Dioceses of Massachusetts as observers and partners in this ministry.

We are especially pleased and grateful that the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church is a member of the Council family and we are indebted for their contribution in strengthening the bonds of Christian Unity.

Your visit, your Holiness, is an occasion of joy and thanksgiving for all the churches here in the Commonwealth.  There is a special joy when we hear and observe, as we have over this weekend, of the many celebrations merited by your visit.

This morning’s celebration, an ecumenical prayer breakfast is of special significance.  Here we witness an occasion in committing ourselves to the following of Christ and the fulfillment of his will as expressed in his prayer for unity so that others would come to believe in him as the one sent by God.

This coming year marks the 100^th anniversary of the inauguration of the Church Unity Octave.  Our theme is to Pray without Ceasing.  It is recognition of the incredible importance of prayer in this movement of Church Unity, an expression of Spiritual Ecumenism.

So we gather this morning, Your Holiness, to pray, to pray for you, for one another, and for God’s world.

First, Our prayers of Praise, prayers that express profound thanksgiving for your Holiness, for your visit among us, and your leadership in rebuilding your country and the Armenian Church world wide.

Our prayers are prayers of petition, seeking peace for your country and the preservation of the Armenian identity.  A prayer of healing for your people whose history has been one of violence, persecution, and genocide.

Our prayers are prayers of remembrance.  We remember with thanksgiving the Saints of old, St. Gregory the Illuminator and his successors.  We remember those 1.5 million Armenians who perished in the horrors of the Armenian Genocide; we pray this prayer in remembrance that in this century just beginning God will free humankind of the scourge of genocide once and for all.

Our prayer is a prayer for blessedness upon your Holiness.  Might God bless you with good health, sound mind and spiritual discernment as you lead the Armenian faithful in their witness for Christ and their preservation of their rich heritage and culture that is a blessing to all humankind.

Our prayer for you, your Holiness, is one of traveling mercies as you visit your people throughout our land.

We offer these prayers along side of the faithful of the Diocese of the Armenian Church in America, as well as with our colleagues gathered this morning in a spirit of Ecumenical fellowship and out of our common vision of shalom, through Christ, in God’s world.

We too present this day to your Holiness a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Council of Churches unequivocally recognizing the Armenian Genocide.  Furthermore, hearing the cry for truth and justice we call upon Congress of the United States to enact legislation granting official recognition of the Armenian Genocide.