Armenian Apostolic leader proposes Third Vatican Ecumenical Council to Pope Francis
June 13, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis received Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church (See of Cilicia, Lebanon), in a June 12 audience. The church (CNEWA profile) is among the Oriental Orthodox churches that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451).
According to the Catholicosate (analogous to a patriarchate), the Pontiff and the Catholicos, at the latter’s initiative, discussed “the necessity of convening a Third Vatican Council with active participation from non-Catholic churches.” The First Vatican Council took place from 1869 to 1870; the Second Vatican Council, from 1962 to 1965. They are the 20th and 21st ecumenical councils in the Church’s history.
Other “important topics proposed by the Catholicos” included the “necessity to broaden and transform the ecumenical relations into a partnership,” a common date for Easter, the “importance of strengthening Christian-Muslim coexistence in Lebanon and the election of a president,” the “imperative of releasing the Armenian political prisoners of war held captive in Azerbaijan,” and the “necessity of returning the indigenous Artsakh Armenians to their homeland under international protection.”
The day before the meeting, the Catholicos delivered a lecture on “The role of religion in geostrategic changes in the Middle East.” Following the papal audience, the Catholicos held meetings with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States; Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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