JUBILEE MESSAGE:

TO VENERABLE AND REVEREND PRIESTS, GRACIOUS SISTERS,

ALL MY FAITHFUL ARMENIAN CATHOLIC BROTHERS AND SISTERS

IN ARMENIA, GEORGIA, RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

As you know, this year 2025 has been proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Francis as the Jubilee Year of Hope. His Holiness, in his encyclical titled “Hope Never Disappoints” published on May 9, 2024, urged the entire Catholic Church to draw special attention to the Christian virtue of Hope during the year 2025. He encouraged us to become pilgrims of Hope to Catholic shrines, to engage in deeper spiritual communion with the Lord and the saints, and to organize various spiritual events to reinforce Hope in each of us and open up new bright prospects for Christian life.

I highly value His Holiness’s epistle and respectfully request that you carefully examine its contents. I sincerely ask you to peruse this spiritual letter and reflect on its message. Let us collectively contemplate some of the truths addressed in that letter.

His Holiness titled his epistle after the words of the Apostle Paul from his Epistle to the Romans, which we find in 5:1-5: “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God […]. And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit” Saint Paul urged the Christian community in Rome to live their faith amid persecution, miscommunication, false accusations, and idolatry, in the prevailing atmosphere of human egoism and unbelief prevalent in the Roman Empire, particularly in Rome. Saint Paul did everything he could to strengthen this little flock of persecuted people in the hope that comes from Christ’s love and the gracious presence of the Holy Spirit, which, as he mentions, never disappoints Saint Paul. Saint Paul believed what he wrote was true because he had experienced the fullness of hope in his own life. He sacrificed for Christ, who is the source of hope.

Pope Francis states in his letter that “Hope is based on the love that flows from the Heart of Jesus pierced on the Cross.” Paul says with a prosperous spiritual heart “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword? Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God. (Rom. 8:35,37-39).

Nevertheless, Saint Paul is realistic, the Pope states and knows that many obstacles faced by Christians in all centuries can threaten the existence of this hope and make that hope abstract and imaginary.

Dear All, I would like to mention, that, unfortunately, our population has a perception of bitter truth through its unique historical experience, an experience that continues to this day and seems never to end. The current challenges facing the Armenian Catholic Community are identical to those confronting each individual and the whole Armenians: post-war mental turmoil and sorrow, troubling feelings and thoughts of anxiety and uncertainty, fear and terror, hatred of violence, insatiable thirst for divine justice and retribution, absence of a unified vision and work in human relations and the development of the homeland, uncertainty of hope for the future, social issues, poverty – both social and spiritual.

We are all in the same boat, despite our status whether we are clergy or laity, Leader or child. Your pain is mine, and your joy is mine. However, it is important to note that if you consider yourself a follower of Christ, you are in the presence of God. This reminds us of Noah’s Ark, which landed on Mount Ararat and embodies a beautiful symbol of the Jesus Rock, where our faith and hope of salvation are anchored. Moreover, “He is the source of hope, He embodies hope himself” wisely reminds us of His Holiness the continuer of Jesus’ mission. I want to quote the Apostle Peter’s message, where the same Apostle, calls us all “living stones, the spiritual temple of Christ” (see 1 Pet. 2:5).

Hence, we are all called to be the rocks of the Church with Christ-Hope in us, strong Hope of salvation through the grace of His Passion and Resurrection, the Hope of overcoming the challenges of this world in His likeness. We need to share our hope with our family, friends, and the entire Church. As Christians, always keeping in mind the saving Passion of our Lord, the sufferings of the apostles and other saints, and the sweat and blood shed by our Armenian martyrs to plant in us the seeds of that life-giving Hope, we are invited to see in the difficulties of our reality new opportunities for moving forward and to “transform them into signs of hope” (see “Hope Never Makes Us Confused,” 7). We are called to descend with the Lord in our difficulties with firm faith and hope into the depths of this reality’s hell and to emerge with Him resurrected as worthy children of God. We must hold unfaltering belief that the Lord’s Heart, overflowing with boundless love, will never forsake us amidst our challenges.

Joining His Holiness’ call, I invite you to share that conscious hope and strong faith with the weak, the sick, the disabled, the old and the lonely. I would like to emphasize the importance of strengthening and inspiring young people in their dreams and Christian hope, because today, especially in our Armenian society, feelings of despair, uncertainty and indecision about the future are destroying the souls of our young people. Adults have a responsibility to inspire and support young people in every possible manner, to pray for them, and to entrust them to the intercession of the saints. This is essential because the youth are called to carry and share the Hope of the eternally youthful Christ with passion. The Pope emphasizes that “Being close to young people brings joy and hope to both the Church and the world.”

I would like to refer specifically to a point in the epistle that is very important for Armenian people, who have two ancient traditional confessional identities: Armenian Catholic and Armenian Apostolic. This Jubilee year marks the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. It took place on May 20, 325, in a historical period, when the Holy Church of Christ was subjected to the terrible attacks of paganism and sects. The Creed formulated at the Council of Nicaea is the ancient memory and longing for that unity, common to both Catholic and Apostolic Armenians. The Nicene “Fathers of the Church” aimed to initiate the Creed with the phrase “We believe,” marking the first usage of this expression. This choice served as a testament to the unity among all Churches and the shared faith professed by all Christians (“Hope Never Confuses,” 17). The coincidence of the anniversary of that holy council with the Jubilee of Hope is profoundly symbolic and invites us to pray fervently this year for the unity of the one holy Church of Christ. We particularly seek the intercession of St. Gregory the Illuminator, who is regarded as the father of the Armenian people’s faith.

It brings us great joy that this year also marks the tenth anniversary of the proclamation of another saint, a fervent advocate of the unification of the Armenian Church, St. Gregory of Narek, as a Master of the Universal Church. On May 12, 2015, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, in the presence of the spiritual leaders of the Armenian Catholic and Apostolic Churches, Pope Francis ranked Narek among the Masters of the Universal or Catholic Church, at the same time speaking to the world about the bitter wound of the Genocide of the Armenian people.

Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to express our sense of hope, consolation and affection in a  particular manner to the relatives of our sons who have sacrificed their lives for their homeland, so that they may feel that Lord is present with them through us. The Jubilee Year will give us the opportunity to rediscover, with boundless gratitude, that gift of New Life received in Baptism, which is capable of transforming tragedy… in the face of death, where everything seems to end, we gain the certainty that through the grace of Christ… “life is not taken away, but is transformed”, forever” (“Hope Never Makes Us Confused”, 20). The pinnacle of a Christian’s hope is eternal life or everlasting happiness: this is the transformation of death into Life, the replacement of fear with unfailing joy and gladness. The confidence of hope is anchored not only in God’s love but also in His infinite forgiveness. This jubilee year presents us with the chance to immerse ourselves more deeply in the wellsprings of God’s mercy. During this solemn prayer ceremony marking the opening of the Holy Door, the Mother Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs in Gyumri has joined the ranks of numerous cathedrals worldwide that have opened their doors this year to offer plenary indulgences. The opening of the Holy Door is a united plea for the Lord’s door of mercy and hope to be opened before us. The Successor of Saint Peter and the Bishops who have joined him ask God for the grace of full forgiveness of sins for all those who will make a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs. The Church, with the power of opening and closing given to the Apostle Peter, opens the springs of God’s forgiving graces, so that all our children who fulfil all the following conditions may enjoy full reconciliation with God։

1. Receive the Council of Confession on the first Saturday or Sunday of each month,
2. Make frequent pilgrimages to the Mother Cathedral of the See of the Holy Martyrs and pray for the spiritual prosperity of the Armenian Ordinariate of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Eastern Europe and for the intentions of the Ordinary,
3. Participate in all Sunday Liturgies throughout the year and this year’s Jubilee events.

Hence, I beg all of you to initiate and implement community and general Jubilee event programs: days of spiritual education, meetings and discussions with children, youth, the elderly, families to reflect on the themes of my and His Holiness the Pope’s messages, moments of joint prayer: prayers of the Rosary, adoration of the Holy Eucharist, processions, pilgrimages to churches and holy places, especially the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs in Gyumri, the Monastery of Bzommar and Rome. All Catholic faithful, especially those from the Eastern Churches and Armenian Catholics who are in communion with the See of Peter, are invited to make a pilgrimage to Rome this year. Making a pilgrimage of prayer is also significant for Armenian people, who love to walk through the difficult paths of repentance, according to the words of the Apostle Paul.

I hope that this Jubilee year will provide you with a unique opportunity to discover new sources of spiritual grace, to draw closer to the Lord, and to love the Lord and each other more.

I humbly request your prayers for me, my spiritual brothers and sisters of our Ordinariate, for our united noble service and the holiness of all of us.

May the Holy Virgin protect you all through her maternal intercession. Amen.

Christ, have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, intercede for us!

Star of the sea, guide us!

Queen of Armenia, pray for us!

Queen of peace, pray for us!

Refuge of sinners, pray for us!

Saint Gregory the Illuminator, pray for us!

Saint Gregory of Narek, pray for us!

Servant of God Gregory Peter XV Aghajanian, pray for us!

✠ GEORGE ARCHBISHOP NORADOUNKIAN

Titular Archbishop of Sebastia,

Ordinary of the Armenian Catholics of Armenia, Georgia, Russia

and Eastern Europe

Translated by Ulyana Kostanyan