Pope Francis will bless the bronze statue of Saint Gregory of Narek – a real bridge between the East and West, a symbol of ecumenism, who was proclaimed by the Pope as Doctor of the Church. The inauguration of the statue will take place midday April 5 in the gardens of the Vatican.

The inauguration will take place in the presence of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Garegin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I.

The sculptor of the statue is Davit Yerevantsi.

The statue was made in the Czech Republic with financial support of Armenia’s Ambassador to Vatican Michael Minasyan and Arthur Janibekyan.

Two statues were made – one for the gardens of Vatican, and one for Etchmiatsin – a message conveyed through art, which can bring the sister churches even closer.

The story behind the idea of giving the statue of Gregory of Narek to Vatican goes back to the Papal visit to Armenia two years ago, when the Armenian President gave a small statue of the Armenian saint to the Pope as a gift, and said he hopes to see the bigger version of the statue in Vatican someday.

Saint Gregory of Narek was a Christian mystic, Vardapet and Bishop of the Armenian Church. He was born in 951 and was educated in the Monastery of Narek. Gregory later became a teacher at the Monastery, and his fame as a Christian scholar was renown. His “Prayerbook of Lamentations”, written in 1003, has also been known by the title of each of the 95 chapters in it: “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart”. For ten centuries, the prayerbook has been one of the most often read and respected book among Armenians, second only to the Holy Bible. The book also has miraculous power attributed to it, and is frequently read over those who are ill.

Davit Yerevantsi is one of the renowned contemporary Armenian artists. Born in 1940 in Yerevan, he relocated to Paris in 1974. He currently lives and works in both Yerevan and Paris.