Catholic World News
May 7 2008

Pope, Armenian patriarch committed to Christian unity

Vatican, May. 7, 2008 (CWNews.com) – At his regular weekly public
audience on May 7, Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) welcomed the head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church to Rome, and spoke about the urgency of
ecumenical work.

In greeting Catholicos Karekin II, the Holy Father said that the
Armenian patriarch’s visit "revives our hope for the full unity of all
Christians." He saluted the "commitment of the Armenian Apostolic
Church to ecumenical dialogue."

As the Christian world prepares to celebrate the feast of Pentecost,
the Pope said, the faithful should pray for a new outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, conscious that the Spirit "renews the earth and creates
unity where before there was division."

"We have the certainty that the Lord Jesus never abandons us in our
search for unity," the Pope said, "because his Spirit is tirelessly at
work to support the efforts we make to overcome all forms of
division." He went on to say that the Spirit creates "the great
community which is the Church in all the world."

Christianity is always in a state of expectation, like the apostles
before the first Pentecost, the Pope continued. The faithful "pray
incessantly to obtain ever-new effusions of the gifts of the holy
Spirit." He added that "we too invoke these gifts on all Christians,"
hoping that the followers of Christ will form a sign of unity visible
to all the world.

Pope Benedict invited Catholicos Karekin to address the audience in
St. Peter’s square, and the Armenian patriarch reaffirmed his
commitment to the cause of restoring Christian unity.

Karekin II also said, during his brief remarks, that the world should
recognize the suffering of the Armenian people in the genocide of the
early 20th century. Earlier Pope Benedict had said that the appearance
of his distinguished guest "serves to remind us of the severe
persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the
last century."

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