HH ARAM I MEETS WITH ETHIOPIAN PRESIDENT

Yerkir.am
July 13, 2007

His Holiness Aram I met Ethiopian President N.V. Girma Voldegiorgis
in the Addis Ababa presidential palace on July 11.

At the meeting that lasted about an hour the Pontiff and the president
spoke about the relations between the Armenian and Ethiopian churches,
Lebanon situation, the role of the religion in the world and other
isseus.

The president shows a great interest in these issues and appreciated
Aram I’s reconciliatory role. Bishop Nareg Alemezian (Ecumenical
Officer), V. Rev. Krikor Chiftjian (Communications Officer) and
Armenian philanthropist Gabriel Chemberdjian accompanied the Pontiff
on his trip.

On July 11, Aram I and the Spiritual Leader of the Ethiopian Church,
Patriarch Paulos, signed a joint statement emphasizing the need
to recognize the first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian
Genocide, as well as the Rwanda genocide that happened at the end of
the 20th century.