There are times in our journey as a global nation when we descend into a victim mentality. We all are familiar with this behavior. We become reactive rather than proactive. We complain about the narrative rather than work to control it. We criticize the behavior of an ambivalent world, knowing full well that the number one attribute of international relations is self-interest. Perhaps most disheartening is our fixation on external factors beyond our direct control, while remaining distant from i
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I found your article quite interesting. Your recounting of historical dates concerning the Holy See of Cilicia’s peregrinations is quite accuarate. Outside of the clergy, you and I are probably amongst the very few who have these dates etched in our minds. Your suggestion that the Holy See of Cilicia, assume more administrative responsibilities, outside its current geographical scope is intriguing. It’s ironic, since the Holy See of Cilicia was obliged to take more responsibilities during the Soviet era, when His Holiness Zareh I Payaslian, of blessed memory, issued an encyclical in which “the abandoned flocks” (“separated brethren”) were incorporated into the Cilician See. We now have realized our centuries old dream of having a self-ruling, independent fatherland. How is it possible that the most significant entity in the country, namely, “The Church of the Armenians” (The Armenian Apostolic Church) is now being attacked and denigrated by the Armenian Government? How have things been allowed to sink this low? In your article you seem to have skipped over some of the core issues, namely the personal character of the occupant of the throne of St. Gregory, his disenchantment with the leader of the government, and the resulting response by the prime minister in humiliating the pontiff and seeking to depose him from his pontifical seat. Getting back to your suggestion, I don’t know if canonically it is possible for the Holy See of Etchmiadzin to yield some of its dioceses and/or responsibilities to the Holy See of Cilicia, or if Cilicia is willing or able to do so. Is it the responsibility of Cilicia to “pull the chestnuts out of the fire” for Etchmiadzin?