Language and faith are the major foundations for national identity for any Armenian, especially Armenians living miles away from the homeland. Language and faith are inseparable, and the loss of one will soon lead to the loss of the other. Knowing this, the organizers of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program organized a meeting with a clergyman for the Diaspora Armenian teachers participating in the training program.

Father Priest Mesrop talked to the teachers with willingness and told them about the importance of an Armenian and Christian education. “I can’t imagine a non-Christian teacher of Armenian language and history,” the priest mentioned with special emphasis. Starting with the creation of the world and mankind and reaching Moses and Isaac, the birth of Christ and our days, Father Mesrop briefly presented the foundations of Christianity, as well as the main ideas and its essence.

Coming from foreign countries and having felt the real dangers, the teachers expressed their concerns, and the more concerned teachers were those who had come from Armenian communities in Muslim countries. They regretted to mention that the danger of conversion and assimilation is slowly becoming objective and they don’t know what effective measures can be taken to keep adolescents away from making uninformed mistakes.

Being from the Armenian Diaspora himself, Father Mesrop was aware of the issue and promised to give the teachers many religious books that would help them in teaching. The teachers also raised another issue. They said there was a so-called idea of free faith, which is linked to atheism. It’s quite modern and mainly attracts the youth, including many young Diaspora Armenians. The priest suggested working with those children and youth individually and explaining the devastating consequences to their parents. “In our days, many people speculate the discrepancy between academics and faith. However, they are linked to each other and derive from one another. We need to see the relationship in philosophy. Let us recall the famous philosopher Niche. He was said to have “announced” the death of God, but on his deathbed, he admitted that he hadn’t been able to prove that God had truly died,” the priest mentioned.

The teachers said their students’ most often ask them if there is a God or not, why wars and genocides take place and why children and innocent people die. The priest mentioned that they are God’s creations, and God is always kind when creating. “Evil is the lack of kindness. Let’s not lose our kindness,” Father Mesrop concluded.