Zenit News Agency, Italy
Jan 20 2005
St. Gregory Finds a Niche at a Vatican
Pope Blesses Statue of Apostle of Armenia
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II blessed a
statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator which now stands in one of the
exterior niches of St. Peter’s Basilica.
It is the first time that a statue of an Eastern-rite saint — in
this case, the apostle of Armenia — has been placed among the
founding saints that surround the exterior of St. Peter’s, according
to the basilica’s archpriest, Cardinal Francesco Marchisano.
The ceremony, which took place today as the Pope was on his way to
Paul VI Hall for the general audience, was attended by Patriarch
Nerses Bedros XIX of Cilicia of the Armenians, whose see is in
Lebanon.
Nerses Bedros XIX leads approximately 10% of the Armenian Christians
who live in his homeland and in the diaspora, and who are in
communion with Rome.
Some 90% of Armenian Christians obey the Armenian Apostolic
Patriarchate, which separated from Rome after the Council of
Chalcedon in 451.
A key step was taken in 1996 to overcome this division, when John
Paul II and then Patriarch Karekin I signed a joint declaration that
resolved misunderstandings on the nature of Jesus.
Attending the ceremony were representatives of the Armenian Apostolic
Patriarchate and the Armenian republic.
The statue of Gregory the Illuminator — also known as Gregory the
Armenian — was sculpted by artist Khatchik Kazandjian, of Lebanese
origin. He won a competition convoked by the Vatican and the Catholic
Armenian Patriarchate.
The statue, 5.64 meters (18 feet) high and weighing 18 tons, is in
Carrara marble and cost 250,000 euros ($325,000).
With this gesture, the Pope wished to culminate the celebrations for
the 1,700th anniversary of the Armenian people’s conversion to the
Christian faith.
According to Armenian tradition, Gregory, who was born around
250-252, miraculously cured Armenian King Tiridates III, who
converted to Christianity in 301 together with all his court, making
Armenia the first Christian nation.
The gesture of placing the statue at the basilica, said Cardinal
Marchisano, “expresses marvelously” the “natural variety of the
traditions and rites of the Church, which contribute to her spiritual
enrichment.”