Zenit News Agency, Italy
May 8 2008

Pope Asks Prayer for Armenian Patriarch Visit

Expresses Certainty That "Spirit of Friendship" Will Deepen

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI beseeched the
faithful to pray for the visit to Rome of the patriarch of the
Armenian Apostolic Church.

Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, attended the Pope’s general
audience today, and both leaders exchanged formal greetings.

The Holy Father told the patriarch, "Your Holiness, I pray that the
light of the Holy Spirit will illumine your pilgrimage to the tombs of
the Apostles Peter and Paul, the important meetings you will have
here, and particularly our personal conversations. I ask all who are
present today to pray for God’s blessing upon this visit."

The Pontiff noted Karekin II’s personal commitment to "the growing
friendship between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic
Church."

He mentioned: "In 2000, soon after your election, you came to Rome to
meet Pope John Paul II, and a year later, you graciously received him
in Holy Etchmiadzin. You came once again to Rome together with many
Church leaders from East and West, for the funeral liturgy of Pope
John Paul II.

"I am sure that this spirit of friendship will be further deepened
during the coming days."

The Armenian Apostolic Church separated from Rome after the Council of
Chalcedon in 451.

More than 90% of Armenian Christians are under the Armenian Apostolic
Patriarchate. The Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, visited Armenia last March and was received by Karekin II.

Martyrs

In Benedict XVI’s greeting, he also mentioned the suffering of the
Armenian people: "In an external niche of St. Peter’s Basilica, there
is a fine statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the
Armenian Church. It serves to remind us of the severe persecutions
suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the last
century. Armenia’s many martyrs are a sign of the power of the Holy
Spirit working in times of darkness, and a pledge of hope for
Christians everywhere.

"Your Holiness, dear bishops and dear friends, together with you I
implore Almighty God, through the intercession of St. Gregory the
Illuminator, to help us grow in unity, in one holy bond of Christian
faith, hope and love."

The two Churches have moved closer to unity, notably thanks to a 1996
declaration signed by John Paul II and Patriarch Karekin I on the
nature of Jesus.

Brotherhood

For his part, Karekin II affirmed — leading up to Sunday’s feast of
Pentecost — that it is the Holy Spirit who is "the fountainhead of
unity and transforms our steps on the paths of brotherhood with grace
— steps which are for the glory of God and are born from the love of
Christ, for the sake of establishing peace in the world and a blessed
life for mankind."

"Intolerance and confrontation must not be allowed within the
brotherhood and love of Christ," the patriarch said. "Mankind has
suffered much as a result. Today as well, the creation of God — the
world that surrounds us — is imperiled through interfaith
disagreements, through wars and terrorism, through the effects of
poverty and neglect.

"Our brothers and sisters are in distress in the Middle East and many
other regions of the world; where women and children, the elderly and
disabled are endangered by the blows of disagreement and division,
unjust competition and enmity. This is not the will of God. This is
not our calling."

Karekin II mentioned as well the struggle in Armenia to gain
international recognition of their suffering at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire. Both religious and civil leaders in Armenia want the
massacre to be recognized as a genocide. In 1915 and the following
years, perhaps as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed within the
empire as it broke apart. Turkey and other states oppose the use of
the word genocide to describe the event.

"Today, many countries of the world recognize and condemn the genocide
committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey, as did the
Holy See, by His Holiness Pope John Paul Il of blessed memory during
our fraternal visit to Rome in 2000," the patriarch said.

He added: "Offering prayers to his luminous memory, we as Pontiff of
the Armenians, appeal to all nations and lands to universally condemn
all genocides that have occurred throughout history and those that
continue through the present day, so that those who yield power and
authority realize their responsibilities and results of those crimes
which have been and continue to be committed against the creation of
God, and that the denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals
the commission of the same."

Recognitions

This afternoon, the Catholicos received an honorary doctorate in the
theology of pastoral care of youth from the Pontifical Salesian
University. He was accompanied during the ceremony by Cardinal Bertone
and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Bertone recalled his March visit to Armenia. He said he
experienced "an exquisite and warm welcome" and was able to "submerge
[him]self in the history of the Church."

"Armenia," he explained, "has its roots sunk in the preaching of the
holy Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus. The entire Armenian people
converted to Christ more than 17 centuries ago, at the dawn of the
fourth century, in the year 301. Baptism makes of the Armenians the
first people to be officially Christian, much before Christianity was
recognized as the official religion of the Roman empire."

Cardinal Kasper pronounced the "laudatio," recognizing Karekin II’s
extensive work in the pastoral ministry of youth.

"Immediately after the fall of communism, he arranged for the former
Communist Pioneer Palaces to be converted into church-sponsored youth
centers," the cardinal said. Shortly thereafter, in 1990, "he created
a Christian Education Center […] where young people receive a
catechetical and Christian formation, together with a program in
traditional Armenian art and culture."

"His Holiness Karekin II has continued to follow with care the
preparation and post-ordination training of his clergy," cardinal
Kasper added, noting how the patriarch has sent many students for
further studies abroad, often to Catholic universities or faculties of
theology.

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