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The new head of one of the world's most ancient churches, the Armenian Apostolic Church, has declared that his primary task in his new ministry is to help put his church in order as the nation deals with the crisis prompted by the recent assassination of eight leading government officials.

Catholicos Karekin II, who previously led Armenia's largest diocese, Ararat, was elected Catholicos of All Armenians at the National Ecclesiastical Assembly October 27.

On the same day as the election, the country's prime minister, Vazgen Sarkisian, the parliamentary speaker, Karen Demirchian and six other leading officials in Armenia's parliament in Yerevan, were shot dead by a group of terrorists. The killings threw the small former Soviet state of less than three million people into crisis.

In an interview with Ecumenical News International (ENI) at his official residence in Etchmiadzin, about 30 kilometers from the Armenian capital Yerevan, Catholicos Karekin II stressed the commitment of his church to the ecumenical movement and praised cooperation between Christian churches. But he said that the internal life of his own church must, for the time being, take priority.

At the meeting at which Karekin II was elected, the National Ecclesiastical Assembly also called for the drafting of a new constitution and bylaws for the church, which has operated since the start of the 20th century without a canonical constitution. Karekin II believes that this should be one of his main duties.

This is a pressing task, especially as in 2001 the Armenian church will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the nation's declaration as a Christian state.

Despite the strong financial support the nation receives from the millions of Armenians abroad—mainly in Russia, Europe, North America and the Middle East—this small nation has faced major economic problems since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. An unresolved feud with its neighbor Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Ngorno-Karabakh has aggravated Armenia's problems.

The election of the new Catholicos was of major interest to Armenians both here and abroad. Before the election took place, six of the church's leading bishops protested against "interference" by the Armenian government and the country's president, Robert Kocharian, who supported the man who went on to win the election—Karekin II.

But Karekin told ENI that such events were simply the effects of "pre-election fervor ... We have to show great understanding. The bishops who wrote the letter were motivated by [reacting against] the interference in the internal affairs of the church."

Although before the election some church members had spoken of a possible church schism because of the government's interference, all six bishops who protested took part in the elections and have duly recognized Karekin II as the elected leader of the church.

One of the six, Archbishop Tiran Kyuregian of Russia, told ENI the matter was "irrelevant" now that the new canonical head of the church had been chosen.

Describing how he saw the role of the church, Karekin II told ENI: "Our church is the national church [of Armenia], committed to the spiritual and social welfare of our people. We share our nation's hardships, sufferings, hopes, and joys alike. The church is the people.

"Everything that concerns the people should concern the church. We have created a nation which holds to Christ and which will always be under the Lord's blessing and praise his glory."

The new millennium, the Catholicos said, was "the best opportunity [for all churches] to renew our faith, to revitalize the life of our churches, to rededicate ourselves to the goal of alleviating the pain and suffering within society and reorganize inter-church relations in the framework of cooperation."

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December (Web-only) 1999, Vol. 43