ISTANBUL (Lraper Church Bulletin – 03/04/2005) – His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul & All Turkey, addressed a letter of condolences to His Eminence Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Camerlengo of the Holy See of Rome.
The following is the Patriarch’s letter:
“It is with profoundly deep sentiments of sympathy that I write to you these humble words of cordial condolences, on the passing of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the Holy Father, the “Papa” of countless numbers of Christians all over the globe, Roman Catholic or not.
It is impossible for me, as a person, and as a junior brother of his in the episcopate, to forget the many encounters with him and the opportunities we had to pray together. His visit to Turkey, and the Armenian Patriarchal See of Istanbul, in November 1979, will never be forgotten by our faithful.
The Holy Father leaves a grand legacy of selfless faith in God, of effective witness to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, of peace-making amongst nations, of dialogue and reconciliation between Christian denominations and other religions, of upholding morality and justice for all peoples in this age and time.
We, in the Armenian Church, feel very close at this time of Paschal mystery to our brother bishops in the Roman Catholic Church and to all Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in the world, at the passing of this great Christian Pastor.
This morning, on the Second Sunday of the Quinquagesima, I presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Mother-of-God Patriarchal Church here in Kumkapý, Istanbul, to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II – a beloved and loyal friend of the Armenian Church and people.
May he rest in peace.
In the Risen Lord,
MESROB II
Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul & All Turkey”
Patriarch Mesrob sent letters likewise to Their Eminences Cardinal Angelo Sodano (former Secretary of State of the Holy See of Rome), Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (former Prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), Cardinal Walter Kasper (former Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity) and His Excellency Archbishop Edmund Farhad, Nuncio of the Holy See in Ankara.
Yorumlar kapatıldı.