Page 15 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 66

9
Anthropology. With Oriental Orthodox Churches, Anglicans have important
agreed theological statements on Christology Armenia 2002, Cairo 2014, and
10
Wales 2015. These theological dialogues continue to do important work on
the basics of the Faith which unites us, and they lay the groundwork for the
future–cooperation of our churches. The fact that these dialogues have an
increased momentum now is partly due to the fact that all our churches find
themselves as diasporas, and therefore living and working closely together.
There is another, and more pressing reason, and that is the reality of Enforced
Dispersion.

Enforced Dispersion

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) gives the
statistic that in 2015, the estimated number of people who have been forced to
leave their homes because of war, poverty, or persecution is around 59 million
people globally. We are only lately, and still only partially, beginning to
comprehend this for our daily lives as churches. In recent weeks our churches
have been brought together in the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide
of 2015, commemorated in this country with a moving service in Westminster
Abbey at the end of October with the visit of His Holiness Catholicos Karekin
II of the Armenian Church. We were honoured at my Cathedral Church to
host in Eastertide a gathering of large numbers from the Armenian community
in London to acknowledge the terrible events of a century ago. The reality of
instability, violence and war which characterized 1915 has startling and alarming
parallels with similar situations in the region in 2015 – principally violence
against Christians because of their faith. At the same time, millions are forced
to flee their homes because of poverty and effects of climate change and
increasing desertification. His All Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople has spoken forcefully and publically on the catastrophic effects
of global warming, and the role of humanity in that. Earlier this month, in a
moving address in Westminster Abbey and at the Nikaean Dinner following,
His All Holiness reminded us of the urgent necessity for churches of all
traditions to work together to address the effects of climate change and the
resulting migrant crisis, seen particularly clearly in his home country of Turkey,
now housing millions of refugees from Iraq and Syria. The numbers of people

9 In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-filed Anthropology, The Buffalo Statement, 2015, ACC, 2015.
10 Christology Agreed Statement, Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission, ACC 2015.

13