Window Quarterly Vol. 5, No. 1 & 2, 1995 Copyright 1995 [Permission is granted to use, print, reproduce this article provided the following acknowledgment is given: From Window Quarterly 5, 1-2 (1995); ACRAG c. 1995. *** PRESIDENT LEVON TER PETROSSIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL ECCLESIASTICAL ASSEMBLY, April 1995, Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia Patriarch Torkom Manoogian Introduces the President to the NEA Patriarch Torkom Manoogian of Jerusalem, who was the Locum Tenens of Etchmiadzin, during the first session of the National Ecclesiastical Assembly, expressed words of gratitude to the Republic of Armenia and introduced the President to the Assembly. Archbishop Manoogian said: Today, our nation has the unique opportunity to convene this Assembly in the name of the Armenian Church. It is for the first time that the National Ecclesiastical Assembly is being convened under the banner of independent Armenia. It is the first time that an invitation was sent to the President of the Republic to be present at this first session of the Assembly and to say a few words of welcome. It is the first time that the President of a Republic has responding to such an invitation. We [invited him] with the confidence and faith that-on the soil of our fatherland-our state knows and appreciates the spiritual values of its people. Consequently, [the state] is not only the guardian of our land, but also the guardian of our spiritual legacy. We have also invited the representatives of the Republic of Artzakh. I would like to thank our national government not only for its support and cooperation-during the funeral services of the late Catholicos Vazken I and on the occasion of the convening of the National Ecclesiastical Assembly-but also for zealously and appropriately contributing, on a state level, to the organizational efforts of these events. Today, as we welcome President Ter Petrossian, we also welcome those who accompany him: Vice-President, Gagik Harutyunian; Prime Minister, Hrant Bagratian; President of the Parliament, Babgen Ararktzian; President of Religious Affairs Committee of the Parliament, Lazar Soujian; Director of pan-Armenian "Hayastan Fund", Manushag Petrossian; President of the Republic of Artzakh, Robert Kocharian; Prime Minister, Leonard Petrossian; and President of the Parliament of the Republic of Artzakh, Garen Babourian. It is my pleasure and honor, with special gratitude, to invite the President of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Levon Ter Petrossian, to say his words of welcome. President Levon Ter Petrossian's Address to the National Ecclesiastical Assembly Excerpts from the President's address to the NEA on April 3, 1995 before the formal opening of the Assembly in Holy Etchmiadzin. ... Tomorrow, the 131st Catholicos of All Armenians will sit on the throne of the Armenian Apostolic Church-the honor and responsibility of electing him has been entrusted to you. We have no doubt that you will rise above petty, secondary and sectarian interests; that you will rise above the traditional positions of fossilized relationships, and be guided, especially, with the voice of your conscience and with the awareness of the supreme issue placed before the Armenian Church-the restoration of the unity of the Armenian Church. History is according [us] an extraordinary opportunity to organize the pan-national work of restoration of the unity of the Armenian Church. I am sure that the National Ecclesiastical Assembly will not let this opportunity slip. Otherwise future generations will not forgive us. Here, I would like to put diplomatic language aside and speak with you with simple human language. Let us all admit that the current situation that exists in our Church-that is, her division-is a national disgrace. I do not accept any justification, any argumentation, from all those who have contributed to that division. They do not have any justification. I do not accept the false passions that caused the division. I do not accept the thought that the Church in Etchmiadzin, which was seen as subservient to the Kremlin or the KGB, has served our people worse than the Cilician See. Simply, the Armenian nation, as in the past, in this era as well, had turned into a pawn of the Cold War. Today, we have the opportunity-without the demands of foreign forces-for the first time, to solve our problems ourselves. To solve the greatest problem that is placed before our Church. I am reminded of the great deeds of [St.] Gregory of Datev and Tovma Metzaboretzi-who, during one of the darkest period of our history, had such broad minded wisdom and national thinking, that they were able to achieve great deeds. They resolved a most important national problem by dealing with foreign rulers, with the help and donations of a patriotic Prince Rostom Orbelian. In fact, that fundamental deal constituted the basis of what is Armenia today. Today, the same problem is placed before our nation-before our generation. Our generation, together with you, regained our independent statehood. Our generation liberated Mountainous Karabakh, and it is the duty of our generation to regain the unity of the Armenian Church. I believe in your broad-mindedness and judgment and wish heartfelt success to your work. * Translated by Hratch Tchilingirian