"We must use the weapon of education and dialogue to fight terror"

Says His Holiness Aram I

Speaking to a visiting delegation on Wednesday 16 August, His Holiness Aram
I said: "When the long-awaited ceasefire is established in Lebanon, the
dialogue of life will take on a new urgency and expression by providing
humanitarian assistance, facilitating family reunions, embarking on
reconstruction process, and overcoming the trauma of the last 32 days".

He went on to say that he does not doubt the determination of the Lebanese
people to put their nation and their country back together physically. He
emphasized that "it is equally important for spiritual leaders to work on
strengthening the internal unity of Lebanon by promoting moral and spiritual
values as the solid basis of our community life".

Expressing once again his disappointment with the inability of the
international community to act in time to stop violence, Catholicos Aram I
said that "it is time for the international community to go beyond its
humanitarian assistance to listen to the cries for justice in the Middle
East and to use the weapon of education and dialogue to fight terror. "In
fact", he added, "the most efficient ways to overcome violence and combat
terror in all of its expressions are to promote mutual understanding and
trust and deepen common values through education".

In his recent public interventions and lectures, Aram I has vigorously
called attention to the importance of education and dialogue as weapons to
combat violence and to the particular role of religion in this respect.

From: Press Release by Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
E-mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
Web: http://www.cathcil.org/

Armenian version: http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Armenian.htm