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ADDRESS OF WELCOME FROM TORKOM II, ARMENIANM PATRIARCH, JERUSALEM
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams,
Dear Pilgrims: Welcome to the Holy Land, a biblical land that is now preparing to receive anew our
Lord and Saviour. You are here as pilgrims from England articulating your solidarity with the Christians of the Holy Land. You are here to listen to the ever-dwindling Christian communities whose life, presence and
witness in this land have constituted collectively the umbilical cord between the early Christian Church and the Universal Church. Today, you ask your parish churches and congregations throughout England to
pray for "the little town of Bethlehem" as they approach the final weeks of Advent. You also hope that this pilgrimage will convey to our Christian communities your solidarity and fellowship so that we all realise that
we are not forgotten and that our time-etched witness, often under challenging conditions, is acknowledged and appreciated by our sisters and brothers across the world. Indeed, your pilgrimage offers hope and breeds
encouragement not only to the leadership of the Churches of Jerusalem but equally importantly to the beleaguered communities themselves who are the organic leaven of the Church. In your four days in the
Holy Land - much of it in the very town that witnessed not only the nativity of our Lord but also the massacre of the holy innocents - you will have met many indigenous Christians who might well have shared their hope
as well as despair with you. They will have mentioned to you perhaps the difficult circumstances of life in this small parcel of land. They will have been refreshed by your pilgrimage and renewed by the faithful vigour
of four church leaders in England coming here and, shepherd-like, listening to the daily realities of our own flocks. To be Christian is to be alive; it is to be hopeful and compassionate, to aspire for
peace and justice. As you fulfilled your pilgrimage and as you lent a prayerful heart and listening ear to Christians, I hope that you will take back with you the message that we local Christians are here, that we exist
here, are born here, live here and die here, and that we always welcome pilgrims like you to join us in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Holy Land so that the Living Stones
remain living, breathing and witnessing to the Good News that was heralded into this land some two millennia ago. As we say in Armenian when welcoming friends and visitors, pari yegak. May your
travels back home later today be safe, and may you remember us - your brothers and sisters in Christ - as you celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation in your own churches and dioceses so that we can journey together
the road of faith from the nativity to the Resurrection.
+ Torkom II 23 December 2006 PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO GO TO THE PILGRIMAGE MAIN PAGE
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