Zenit News Agency, Italy
March 7 2008

Pontiff Invites Armenian Patriarch to Vatican

Orthodox Leader Receives Cardinal Bertone

VAGHARSHAPAT, Armenia, MARCH 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI
extended an invitation to the patriarch of the Armenian Orthodox
Church to visit the See of Peter in a letter delivered by his
secretary of state.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone visited Karekin II, supreme patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, on Tuesday at the Mother Cathedral of
Holy Etchmiadzin.

Cardinal Bertone arrived Tuesday to Armenia, days after his original
arrival date was postponed due to unrest in the country.

The cardinal had planned to leave for Armenia on Sunday, and stay
through Thursday, when he would head to neighboring Azerbaijan until
March 9. But post-election clashes between protesters and police in
Armenia on Saturday resulted in eight deaths.

The Armenian government declared a 20-day state of emergency,
forbidding even small groups to gather in the nation’s
capital.


At the meeting today, a Vatican communiqué reported that the cardinal
"conveyed the warmest greetings of unity in Jesus Christ and the
fraternal love," from Benedict XVI to Karekin II.

The secretary of state also delivered a handwritten letter from the
Pope, which included an invitation for Karekin II to visit the See of
Peter.

The Vatican note continued: "His Holiness and His Eminence offered
their gratitude to God for this cordial meeting — a sign of the
continuing development of ties between the Armenian Apostolic Church
and the Catholic Church — to know one another better, to appreciate
each other’s incomparable spiritual heritage, and to love one
another, confirming their equal calling to serve mankind as is
required by our one Lord Jesus Christ.

"They agreed to continue taking steps on these blessed paths."

Intentions

Addressing the unrest afflicting the country, the statement said both
Karekin II and Cardinal Bertone "appealed to God during these
difficult days for Armenia, so that peace and reconciliation be
established within the country. They prayed together for the souls of
the victims and asked the Lord to keep and protect the Armenian
people and reinforce them with faith, hope and love."

"The Cardinal expressed the complete support of the Catholic Church
to the Armenian Church," continued the communiqué, "for her efforts
utilizing her high moral standing, aimed at providing solutions to
all concerns through the promotion of dialogue and peaceful means and
fostering a common sense of responsibility, so that the dignity of
the Armenian people and state remain unharmed within international
society."

The two also prayed to God "to make statesmen and politicians realize
that politics is also a spiritual calling, which demands honesty,
mutual respect, love tolerance and defense of the rights of the poor
and vulnerable."

In Azerbaijan on Thursday, Cardinal Bertone is scheduled to meet with
the head of the Muslim leaders and other religious officials. He will
express to them the Church’s desire to cooperate in the common
commitment to peace, concord among peoples and the good of the human
family.

The cardinal will be present at the inauguration of a new Catholic
church In Azerbaijan’s capital built on land donated to Pope John
Paul II by President Heydar Aliyev, father of the nation’s current
head of state.