Catholicos Aram I with McGill Dean of Religious Studies Barry Levy

McGill hosts Christian leader

DIANA GRIER AYTON | The Faculty of Religious Studies marked the beginning of its 50th anniversary celebrations with the visit last month of a most distinguished figure in the Christian world. Aram I is co-leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and is known as Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, that part of the church based in Lebanon. The other "house," Etchmiadzin, is based in Armenia. Religious Studies professor Ian Henderson says the Armenian community approached McGill to ask whether the faculty would be interested in having Catholicos Aram speak at the University during his visit to Canada. "We replied enthusiastically 'yes,'" says Henderson. "As it turned out, this was one of the largest events the Faculty of Religious Studies has hosted in recent years. We had a standing room only crowd in Redpath Hall." Because Armenians are dispersed throughout the Middle East, western Europe and North America, issues of cultural assimilation and distinctiveness are really important for the community, says Henderson. "His Holiness was lecturing about the relationship between religion and culture. McGill is interested not just in studying religion as an abstraction. One of the things we're trying to do is to help the academic world understand communities that are ethnically defined in part by their religions, and the Armenian community is a classic case of that." Aram's talk at McGill was the only academic visit that he made in Canada, notes Henderson. Because his church is based in Lebanon and because the Armenian community is heavily represented in Iran, he is a prominent figure in Middle East diplomacy and met with Jean Chrétien and other political leaders. "But he is also moderator of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches, and so is an important part of Christian ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. And, of course, he is the spiritual leader of almost all the Armenian Christians in North America," adds Henderson. "We were delighted that he agreed to come to McGill."