VIS: Armenia: Build A Solid and Lasting Peace

VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE

01.28.2005
Fifteenth Year – N.19

ARMENIA: BUILD A SOLID AND LASTING PEACE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 28, 2005 (VIS) – This morning John Paul II received the
president of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, recalling other
meetings they had held, in the Vatican in 1999 and later in Yerevan in 2001,
during the Pope’s apostolic visit to Armenia.

The Pope told the president of his “sincere appreciation for the good
relations between the Holy See and the government of your country. I know
that the Catholic community is welcomed and respected, and that its various
activities contribute to the wellbeing of the entire nation.”

He went on: “Everyone earnestly hopes that the collaboration between the
Holy See and the Armenian government will continue to grow and, where the
situation calls for it, that eventual improvements to the status of the
Catholic Church will be made.”

The Holy Father also gave assurances of the “friendly and respectful
relations between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church.
This understanding, which is even more active thanks to the initiative of
the Catholicos Karekin II, will certainly have positive repercussions for
the peaceful coexistence of the entire Armenian people, who are called to
face no small number of social and economic challenges.”

“I also hope,” said the Pope, “that true and lasting peace comes to the
region of Nagorno-Karabagh where you, President Kocharian, come from. This
will come about by a decisive refusal of violence and a patient dialogue
between the parties, thanks also to active international mediation.”

The Pope concluded by recalling that the Holy See, “which over the
centuries has not failed to denounce violence and defend the rights of the
weak, will continue to support all efforts aimed at building a solid and
lasting peace.”

AC/VISIT PRESIDENT/ARMENIA:KOCHARIAN VIS 050128 (300)

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