His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian participated in the prayer evening

on the visit of the primate of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia

ARAM I

On Saturday evening, June 3, 2023, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian responded to the invitation of Armenian Archbishop Papken Tcharian and the Armenian community of Montreal to attend an evening of prayer in honor of the visit of the Primate of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia His Holiness Aram I.

Also present were H.E. Mgr. Ivan Jurkovic – Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, H.E. Mgr Christian Lépine—Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal, representatives of the Anglican Church, Greek-Melchite Catholic Church of Montreal, Armenian Evangelical Church, etc. Official representatives of the Republic of Armenia and other representatives of the Armenian community in Canada also participated in the event.

Holy Liturgy in the Armenian language was celebrated at le Bon Pasteur Roman Catholic Church in Laval by H.E. Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, hierarch of the Eastern Prelature of the USA.

The delegates of the present Churches were invited to address a word of greeting to the Primate of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia Aram I.

HG Bishop Ioan Casian addressing the Armenian Primate and speaking about the work of the Holy Spirit and the call of all to unity said: "For us Christian Orthodox today is the day of Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, who laid the foundation of the Church. It is the feast in which as we see in New Testament all nations are brought together through common language of God in various languages of the nations. This is the moment in which God in His infinite love distributes His graces over the whole world renewing it in the Holy Spirit.

We, Christian, as apostles of Christ, we must bear witness to the work of God amongst us and in the world. It is our mission to preach and show through our life the marvelous working of God present here and now. We saw this in the human history and in the saints’ life. Let us take courageously this challenge to talk about God and His wonderful working and let us make Him known among nations. (...)

Our God as Holy Trinity is a God of dialogue and love. We are integrated through prayer, Divine Liturgy and all the blessing we have in the Church into the divine life of God. He made us His partners and friends. Let us not forget this; let us not lose sight of this; let us plunge ourselves in this great experience of the God’s love for us."

Referring to the Romanian and Armenian peoples, the hierarch said: "I know that the Armenian people and Romanian people did not have an easy way through history. But they remained a living example how to lead a Christian life with dignity while under huge pressure or under persecution."

At the end of his message, HG Bishop Ioan Casian conveyed to the Armenian primate the warm greetings of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.

After the reading of the other messages, in his speech, His Holiness Aram I emphasized the importance of the unity of the churches and their mission: "The church is a solemn reality. The church cannot remain ignorant and indifferent in the face of the crises facing humanity. The mission of the church is to transform the world through the values of our Gospels and the principles of the Kingdom of God. Being a church in this world is not easy and we are facing a big challenge and our churches must meet this challenge head-on with conviction and courage and by standing together through social engagement and engagement in the name of God. That is the mission of our churches."

The evening ended with the recitation of a few ecumenical prayers, the eucharistic communion of the believers present and the interpretation of several hymns specific to the Armenian tradition.