Archbishop Sarkissian calls on followers of all religions to coexist peacefully

Archbishop Sarkissian: As religious minorities in Iran, we enjoy freedom of expression and freely practice our rites and rituals. I can confidently announce that all religions enjoy freedom in Islamic Republic of Iran. This is an undeniable fact.

Interview by Sadrodin Musawi

The leader of the Armenian diocese in Tehran Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, on the eve of the New Year, called on followers of all the divine religions, particularly Muslims, Christians and Jews, to get closer to each other and try to peacefully coexist with each other.

He congratulated Christmas to all nations and prayed for prevalence of peace across the globe.

As religious minorities in Iran, we enjoy freedom of expression and freely practice our rites and rituals. I can confidently announce that all religions enjoy freedom in Islamic Republic of Iran. This is an undeniable fact.

Criticizing some officials of the Western and Eastern countries for their distance from religious teachings, Sarkissian said, unfortunately some Western and Eastern officials are completely away from the concept of religion and hence religious teachings do not have any influence among them. This is not limited to Christianity, he said adding, this very issue has created insecurity, instability and absence of peace and affection among the countries of the world.

Return to religion and holding fast to true divine teachings is the only way to get rid of this situation, he said.

Archbishop Sarkissian called on officials of the Middle Eastern countries to promote concepts of love, understanding, dialogue, mutual respect, and listening to each other among their nations.

Referring to Islamophobia in the West, the Armenian leader said, the policy of Islamophobia has been in fact launched by evil forces against religion and other religious tendencies, it applies to Islam and Christianity both, he said. 

Ignorance is the root of success of this phenomenon, he said adding the followers of divine religions, i.e. Muslims, Christians and Jews, should get closer to each other and work together for peaceful coexistence.

Religious extremism, such as terrorist acts of Al-Qaeda, is one of the reasons for institutionalization of Islamophobia in some Western countries, he said.

As followers of divine religions we should pledge to promote unity and unanimity to show that religion is against any terroristic or violent act.

As a Christian clergy, among my friends I have also very dear Muslim friends with whom I have a very close relationship. It has never occurred to my mind that I am not a sincere friend of them or they are not loyal friends. Hence the Armenians don’t find any obstacle in their relations with others, while they consider some perimeters for preservation of their religion and ethnicity, he said.

Commenting on Islam-Christianity relations, he said, the Armenians have a strong faith in dialogue and peaceful coexistence is among their main ideals. The Armenians from the very day of their formation have intermingled with other nations and peoples, he said.

The Armenians from the very beginning of the rise of Islam have had friendly relations with the Muslims based on mutual respect.

Today, we are trying to expand dialogue between Muslims and Armenians. We believe that Islam is an undeniable reality.

Dialogue between Islam and Christianity has a long history. The objective of the dialogue cannot change, which is having a better life while living with each other, using the divine blessings in a better way and guiding mankind to a sublime life.

Today we are facing problems and challenges which were unconceivable in the past, the Archbishop said adding, these challenges are complicated and threat the followers of religion. Our mission as Christians and Muslims is to identify the common aspects of the two religions which are ample in my opinion.  

In the next step we should work together and advise the youth to avoid unethical issues. Unfortunately we witness the decline of ethical values in all societies. Hence dialogue is a vital issue; it is unavoidable and all of us should be committed to it, Sarkissian added.

Referring to the common spiritual and ethical heritage of Islam and Christianity, he said: in my opinion, Islamo-Arabic and Islamo-Iranian literatures contain an ocean of spirituality and morality, particularly tolerance. This also clearly exists in Christianity.

However, I would like to mention that there are ethical principles and rules in both Islam and Christianity that unfortunately are not well known to the followers of these two religions, he said.

Besides creating love and mercy, the doctrines of these two religions can acquaint the followers with their spiritual, ethical heritage. Love sublimates our approaches, he underlined.

When we look from above, we only see sublime, pure ideas and get rid of parochialism, suspicion and venoms, the top religious leader said.

Love does not come from mountains or seas; it is inward, coming from inner being, from our daily life, he added, and since we try to know each other, respecting each other’s beliefs is formed and hence a religious society is formed regardless of a specific religion.