International Orthodox Christian News

His Holiness Aram I presided over the Third Christian-Muslim Dialogue Conference. It was held on Monday 3 November 2008, at the Department of Islamic Culture and Relations of Iran. The head of Iran's ‘Dialogue among Religions Department’, Dr. Rasoul Rasoulipouri, and the Primate of the Diocese of Tehran, Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, made the opening speeches.

In his speech, His Holiness Aram I stressed the importance of sanctity of the family and said it should be based on Christian values; he also likened the family unit to a “small church”. The Pontiff identified the challenges and difficulties the world has been confronting, today. He also highlighted that the family was in the forefront to bear those challenges, and its destruction would weaken society and lead it to destruction.

Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian and Dr. Aida Hovhannissian (Chairwoman of the Diocesan Council) represented the Armenian Church, and presented the Church’s perspective ‘on the role of women’ from a legal perspective. Professor Dr. Meguerditch Toumanian expounded on ‘education and instruction’; while Dr. Levon Tavtian spoke about the challenges, ‘a family faces today’.

Iranian speakers contributed on the above topics, too. Discussions followed the presentations and a statement issued. The conference became a unique event for the Catholicosate of Cilicia and the Armenian Community in Iran. It asserted their role that the Armenian Community in Iran, the largest minority group, could play.

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