Window Quarterly
Vol. I, No. 2, 1990
Copyright 1990

[Permission is granted to use, print, reproduce this article 
provided the following acknowledgment is given:  From 
Window Quarterly 1, 2  (1990);  ACRAG c. 1990. 

***

Address of His Holiness Vazken I to the delegates of the 
Armenian National Movement (Holy Etchmiadzin, 
November 9, 1989) translated by Hratch Tchilingirian

Editor's note: For the first time, Window is providing the 
English translation of  the address of His Holiness spoken to 
the delegates of the Armenian National Movement.  The 
address is very significant, because it underlines the Church-
Nation relations in light of contemporary developments in 
Armenia.  In October 1989, the Armenian National 
Movement held its first congress in Yerevan, with some 1500 
people attending.  The Movement was conceived by the 
Karabakh Committee, which also hosted the congress.  The 
Movement was officially recognized by the Soviet Armenian 
government and the Armenian Communist Party leadership.  
Although this was a speech, rather than a written address, 
fidelity to the printed text and accuracy were foremost in our 
mind.  Therefore, we translated the text with minimal 
editorial input.  For those who are unfamiliar with the terms 
"interior diaspora" and "external diaspora," the first refers to 
those Armenians who live in the various Republics of the 
Soviet Union, and the latter refers to those Armenians who 
live outside the Fatherland and the Soviet Union.


Dear friends,

You have come to this holy place as pilgrims.  Perhaps, for 
some of you, it is the first time that you are in Holy 
Etchmiadzin.  Those of you who come from the internal 
diaspora, you are also pilgrims as the beloved children of the 
Armen- ian Nation and the Armenian Church. Unlike other 
churches, we are not preoccupied with inquisitions 
(havadaknootyoon).  All Armenians, whether believers or 
not, we consider them true children of the Armenian Church 
without discrimination.

I greet your organization, your National Movement, and I am 
happy to see so many of your delegates present here today. I 
wish that after you leave, you take my greetings and 
blessings to all those who could not be here today.  I know 
about you and I feel the pounding of your hearts, the flight of 
your thoughts and your dear expectations for the present and 
the future of our people.  The fundamental idea of your 
organization, or movement, has been expressed by the word 
National--by the National concept.  That is very dear to our 
heart.

I do not know how familiar you are with the history of our 
Church... [or] with the achievements of our Church through 
the centuries, from the perspective of strengthening and 
realizing the national idea (kaghapar).  I would like to remind 
you that since you are talking about the nation... at this 
moment you are at a historical Center which created and 
shaped the national idea [nationalism].

The national identity of the Armenian nation, the national 
ethos of the Armenian people, [and] the national ideology of 
the Armenian people have been forged here at Holy 
Etchmiadzin, especially, in the fourth and fifth centuries. Let 
it not be assumed that in the formation of the national 
ideology the Armenian Church was a follower or a 
conformist. No. The Armenian Church for the past seventeen 
centuries has been the author and the leader [in these 
matters].

Until the fourth century--until the acceptance of 
Christianity... [our] national ideology and national ethos were 
not yet formed.  The Armenian nation, in a total sense, took 
birth, formed and started to radiate as a spiritual force 
throughout the centuries, [with] three historical events or 
indicators: first, by christianization in 301;
second, in the beginning of the fourth century with the 
creation of the Armenian alphabet and the dawn of Armenian 
literature; and third, in the middle of the same century, with 
the Battle of Avarayre. These three dates, these three 
historical events are the core foundations, they are the rock 
of formation of
the Armenian national consciousness.  And these three 
events are directly related to our Church.

It is through our Church that Christianity finally spread 
throughout the land of Armenia (historical Armenia). 
Through Christianity the moral and spiritual identity of the 
Armenian nation was formed.

The second milestone was in the beginning of the fifth 
century, with the great work of St. Mesrob: the creation of 
the Armenian alphabet, with the translation of the Holy Bible 
into Armenian by the Translators, which is one of the most 
perfect translations in the world, something that brings pride 
to our nation in the world.  It was during these times that the 
national spirit of the Armenian people took its final shape 
and the Armenian literature took birth.

And finally, again from Holy Etchmiadzin, [the Armenian 
people] in the holy hands of Vartan Mamigonian went to the 
battle field of Avarayre. The battle of Vartanantz is a religio-
national battle.  In the past, sometimes wrong interpretations 
have been made concerning this.  In reality, as historian 
Yeghishe mentions in his famous history book, the battle of 
Vartanantz was a battle for faith and for national freedom.  
And I could say that the inspireer and the initiator, even 
before Vartan, has been the priest Ghevont Yeretz.  I could 
even say that Vartan followed the call of Ghevont.

 Hence... in the subsequent centuries, from the fifth century 
to our days, to the battle of Sardarabad, all the significant 
events in our history have been rooted in these three initial, 
anchored emotions: anchored on spiritual foundations, 
Christian faith, national literature, fortified culture and 
liberation of the fatherland.

I believe that now, as new circumstances are created in the 
Soviet Union, these truths should more forcefully be forged 
and underlined, so that our people not only understands the 
essence of the Armenian Church, not only understands 
correctly our national ideology, but also understands himself 
correctly as an Armenian person, that who he is as an 
Armenian in this world and what kind of a calling he has 
under the new circumstances in our days, and what kind of 
longings he has toward our future.

You could be assured that our Church, headed by 
Etchmiadzin, is always ready to open her wings and heart 
before all those Armenians, before those organizations who 
would be willing to think, speak and work by this spirit and 
by properly understood national realization.  This spirit, this 
spiritual national realization has preserved also our Church in 
the last decades, here in a Soviet country; even in the bad 
times of self-worship , though under isolated conditions, the 
Armenian Church has always kept the light of this spirit lit in 
Holy Etchmiadzin and in the diaspora.

And after the War [WWII], when the situation considerably 
improved from the perspective of the Church, especially the 
last 30-35 years, during my tenure, we were able to 
accomplish worthy tasks by rebuilding our church life in 
Armenia. Numerous monasteries and churches were 
renovated and opened, of which you all know.  It is that
fundamental work that we continued.  You might also be 
familiar with the decrees of the Mother See during the past 
thirty years, in my homilies, encyclicals,  pronouncements, 
by which you should understand clearly that Holy 
Etchmiadzin has justly proceeded in the same road. Allow 
me to say, perhaps a little unmodestly, that in all the land of 
Armenia, we built the first monument dedicated to the 
Genocide in Etchmiadzin, then our  government followed our 
example and erected the magnificent monument of 
Didzernagabert.

Second, for a long time the battle of Sardarabad was not 
remembered amongst us, it was left to forgetfulness.  In this 
case also, for the first time in Armenia, the battle of 
Saradarabad was proclaimed [as a national  holiday] publicly 
by the encyclical of Vazken Catholicos. With this I would 
like to show once again that not only myself individually, but 
our Church in its entirety has remained the bearer of the flag 
of the national spirit, also during the last decades, both here 
and in the diaspora.

In the diaspora, where more than two million Armenians 
live, in different countries, (my reference is to the external 
diaspora), the Church is the  essential Armenian national 
organization.  It could be said, without hesitation, that the 
Armenian Church is the backbone of the  Armenian life in 
the diaspora.  It is true, there are numerous organizations, 
political parties and all have their reason d'etre, but the 
foundation of the Armenians' life, in practice and 
legitimately, remains to be the Armenian Church. 
Conclusively, this is what Armenian Aposotlic Church means 
and this is what its historic center Holy Etchmiadzin means.

You have come forward in the name of a new movement and 
started  to be organized and you will continue to prosper, just 
as here, perhaps also in the diaspora, especially in the interior 
Diaspora.

Naturally, amongst our people, not every Armenian 
individual thinks in the same way about different issues, 
concerning national issues, political issues, social issues or 
economic issues, neither here nor in the diasopora.  That is a 
natural phenomenon.  Yesterday, a well-intentioned fellow 
asked me that now that there are different waves and streams 
among our people, here and in the diaspora, which side is the 
Church with? I said the Church is not with any side, the 
Church is with all the sides.  In other words, the Church 
stands on the idea of unity and it should remain so; because, 
the calling of the Church has been to be a reconciling and 
peacemaking bridge among different sides.

A question is raised: what do we mean when we say unity? 
The way I perceive it, unity is desirable, but that should not 
be understood as absolute uniformity.  As in the life of all 
nations, also it is possible in the common life of our people 
to exist different streams, different ways of thinking 
concerning the same issues, for the benefit of the nation and 
the fatherland. In fact it is good that such is the case.  It is 
also impossible in the diaspora for the Armenians to be 
completly united in the true sense of the word.  That is 
simply not feasible.   Whoever thinks otherwise,  he does not 
understand the diaspora.  Therefore, plurality exists and will  
necessarily remain so.  The wisdom is in the fact that in our 
plurality, nevertheless, we can preserve a unity concerning 
fundamental issues, fateful issues and in the vital issues 
concerning the future of our people and the
fatherland.  I could even venture to express a bold idea, that 
sometimes, in the history of nations, the children or 
groupings of the same nation could walk separately, but 
strike the same target; walking separetly but striking 
together.   I wished that the children of our nation, in the 
fatherland and the diaspora, could reach to the maturity of 
such political, national thinking and effort.   I would like also 
to add another definition expressing the same reality that is 
so often mentioned in the sphere of religion, that is, "In 
essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things 
charity." This means freedom of thoughts and expressions, 
but unity in vital issues, that is becoming one, and love for 
all, extended to all, towards each other, without feelings of 
enmity towards the other. This is extremely important.   We 
might all disagree on this or that issue, there would always be 
debatable issues,  but we shall never be enemies.  Indeed, 
this is the true spirit of democracy; otherwise, democracy is 
void if one shows an intolerant spirit towards the opinions of 
others; that is not democracy anymore, that leads to 
dictatorship.

....In my view, there are three important imperatives that we 
need to consider.  First, [it is] the guarantee and the 
strengthening of the political security of our Republic.  I 
consider this of essential matter in view of the geopolitical 
position of our country.  We should be very careful and 
realistic.   By all means, whatever we think, we should first 
and foremost be concerned with the political security and 
strengthening of our fatherland.

Second, [it is] security of the economic reconstruction and 
development of our country.  By economic I mean 
agriculture, prosperity and rebuilding, especially after the 
tragic disaster [of the earthquake].  The economic 
reconstruction of our country has a vital significance.  We 
cannot survive with the present situation. Particularly, now 
that new opportunities have been created in the diaspora, to 
initiate new economic ventures with Armenian and non-
Armenian organizations, henceforth, if we are able to utilize 
those opportunities, then great, unprecedented economic 
successes could be called to life.

Third, the fundamental issue is the urgency to create a 
uniformity to advance the prosperity of our national culture 
in our fatherland.  We [have been] a people of culture for a 
several thousand years.  That is one of our pride.  We, the 
Armenians, have created kinds of cultural treasures on the 
level of universal human history, that we are worthy of being 
called culture-creating and culture-enduring people, with our 
literature, with our church, with our architecture, with our 
marvelous religious and popular music and other forms of 
artistic expressions. Let me recall a famous pronouncement 
of a renowned European historian, in the end of the last 
century, who said, "there are no nations in the world, there 
are cultures."  He means, there are nations, but real nations 
are those who have created cultures, and not robbed other 
cultures, as it is the case with some [nations].  Our people 
has been a culture creating nation from the very beginning, 
especially, as I mentioned earlier, from the fourth century on 
ward.

Therefore, today also, we should bring forth all our efforts, 
energy and genius, to preserve our dignified place, in this 
world and throughout our small fatherland, by holding high 
the torch of national culture.  Of course, on the road of 
development of our national culture, our mother tongue, the 
Armenian language has a decisive place, for which you are 
also the defenders and you have recorded in your program 
what is necessary concerning the Armenian language.  Our 
language is one of the most important treasures of our 
culture.  It is a genuine creation of the Armenian people.  
The image of the Armenian nation's spirit is in our mother 
tongue.  Without the Armenian language it is difficult to 
remain and survive as Armenians, not to say even 
impossible.  During the last 60-70 years, the Armenian 
language was not dominantly defended in our country, and it 
remained to be one of the languages.  Even sometimes I have 
met parents who do not send their children to Armenian 
schools, considering the Armenian language a dead language. 
Of course this is a painful reality, a tragic mentality of some.  
I am absolutely not against the Russian language.  I greatly 
appreciate the language of the Russians and their literature, 
to which I am familiar through Romanian translations. There 
is no doubt that the Russian language and literature are 
worthy of universal respect.   But that does not mean that we 
should consider our language as some kind of a secondary or 
dead or imperfect language.  The Armenian language is our 
existence, it is our dignity, it is our identity, it is the fountain 
of our culture and it is the mold of realization of all our  
expectations.  We cannot live without our mother tongue.  In 
my opinion, gradually, a special policy should be adopted so 
that  increasingly  the Armenian language becomes the 
operative language not only in the families, not only in the 
Armenian schools, but also in the institutions and the work 
place; [to make it the operative language] by learning it 
better than the Russian and making it as the language of 
intra-national relations in the Soviet Union.  Furthermore, it 
is desirable, that the Armenian intellectual speaks freely not 
only in Armenian and Russian, but also at least in a third 
foreign language.  The Armenian man should be able to 
speak with the world.

I have a special word of greetings to the representatives of 
the interior diaspora.  Finally, it is time for the interior 
diaspora to stand on its feet.  Glory to God, the movement 
has already started now.  I am especially greeting the 
representatives of the interior diaspora and I wish them 
strength, enthusiasm and courage to be organized and to 
pronouce their words in the life of our people.  If I am not 
mistaken, we have more than a million Armenians in the 
interior diaspora.  But organization is needed, work is 
needed, dedication is needed, love and faith are needed. Now 
those opportunities are provided, we should take advantage 
of them.  In the past, before Word War I, we had a strong 
interior diaspora througout Czarist Russia. Even the culture 
of our western Armenians created its rebirth in the interior 
diaspora: Tiblisi, Rosdov, Moscow, Asdrakhan, Artzakh and 
other places.  Where are those Armenians now?  I invite you 
to stand up and work together, always in contact with the 
mother land and Holy Etchmiadzin.  This is a very important 
matter for the present and the future.

The Armenians of the diaspora are an integral part of our 
people in the mother land: just as the interior diaspora is, so 
is the external diaspora.  I would like to end my words with 
an anouncement: in order to encourage the use of the 
Armenian language in educational and other institutions, I 
wish to donate one hundred Armenian typewriters, which 
will be under the discretion of your newly elected committee.

I wish all of you strength, enthusiasm and inspiration so that 
you may continue your mission in patience, with courage, 
balance and wisdom; so that eveything is realized in their 
natural progression and step by step, for the glory of the 
Armenian people and our reborn Fatherland.

Love, peace and blessings to you all now and always. Amen.

Vazken I
Catholicos of All Armenians


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          View Of The Armenian Church 
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