Category: News

We are proud and grateful for the Pope’s visit to Armenia and his attitude, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Vatican Radio ahead of the Pontiff’s visit.

“For years he has expressed his warm attitude and respect for the nation, which was the first to adopt Christianity as state religion, and as we, Armenians, understand, this comes from his beliefs, from his heart,” the President said.

Speaking about the expectations from the visit, President Sargsyan said: “Fifteen years ago Pope John Paul’s visit to Armenia was dedicated to the 1700^th anniversary of adoption of Christianity. Pope Francis’ visit is dedicated to another important jubilee – the 25^th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.”

“The relations between Armenia and Vatican have always been remarkable for the high-level political dialogue, because the relations are based on similar Christian values, common historical heritage and principles and similar approaches towards issue of the contemporary world, which are hard to solve,” President Sargsyan said.

He added that the relations further deepened after the opening of the Armenian Embassy at the Vatican and the Holy Mass the Pontiff celebrated on the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The President also attached importance to the proclamation of Gregory of Narek as ‘doctor of church.’

Speaking about the Karabakh issue, President Sargsyan said “our position is clear.” “The Karabakh conflict should be solved exceptionally in a peaceful way. Before the April events we were speaking about mutual concessions, today it’s hard for people to understand that speaking about concessions is possible with a country, which violates its international commitments. I’m confident, however, that we’ll find the best solution to the Karabakh issue, the best for the people of Nagorno Karabakh, not for Azerbaijan or Armenia,” President Sargsyan said.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France) call on the sides to honour the agreements which were reflected in the Joint Statements of the 16 May summit in Vienna and the 20 June summit in St. Petersburg.

We urge Azerbaijan and Armenia to remove all remaining obstacles to expanding the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.  We also urge progress in substantive talks and on a proposal to establish an OSCE investigative mechanism. We will continue our engagement with the sides to advance all of these outcomes from the last two meetings between the Presidents.

Pope Francis and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II drove around the Vartanants Square in Gyumri in Papamobile following a Holy Mass in Armenia’s second largest city.

A souvenir sheet and a mini-sheet with four stamps dedicated to the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia have been put into circulation

On 24 June 2016 “Haypost” closed joint stock company puts into circulation a souvenir sheet with one stamp and four postage stamps designed into a mini sheet in a form of a cross, dedicated to the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Armenia.

The official cancelation ceremony of the souvenir sheet and mini-sheet took place at the Presidential Palace of the RA in the presence of high-ranking delegations from Armenia and  Vatican.

The souvenir sheet with one stamp depicts Pope Francis against the backgrounds of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, as well as the logo dedicated to the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia and the coat of arms of Pope Francis.

The format of four stamps designed into a form of a cross has been selected by “Haypost Trust Management b.v.”, a company that belongs to Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian, an Argentinian Armenian businessman, and has a symbolic meaning for the visit of Pope Francis to the first Christian Nation. The four stamps depict Pope Francis against the backgrounds of a statue to Saint Gregory the Illuminator donated to the Vatican by Armenia, a monument dedicated to the theme “Armenia – the first Christian Nation” in Yerevan, inner parts of the Main Cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Saint Peter`s Basilica in the Vatican.

The souvenir sheet has an inscription “Pope Francis. Armenia. 24-26 June, 2016”, as well as “Visit to the first Christian Nation” which is the official motto of this visit.

– Pope Francis has departed from Italy for a three-day Apostolic Voyage to Armenia.

As the Pope began his journey, he sent the following telegram to Sergio Mattarella, the President of Italy:

In the moment in which I undertake my Apostolic Voyage to Armenia in order to draw from the ancient wisdom of that people, to confirm them in the faith, to support every effort along the path of peace and reconciliation, I address to you, Mr President, and to the whole Italian nation my cordial greetings, which I accompany with an encouragement to the entire country to remain on the front line of solidarity, looking to the future with confidence and hope.

SPEECHՕF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA SERZH SARGSYAN
AT THE MEETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES, PUBLIC AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS ACCREDITED IN YEREVAN

Yerevan, 24 June 2016

 Your Holiness,

Eminences,

Dear Guests,

What a special day the Lord has made for us.

It is an immense honor for our people and me personally to welcome the leader of the Catholic World, His Holiness Pope Francis on the Armenian soil, which was the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion and withstood sufferings through millennia for the Christian identity and values.

Your Holiness,

Your visit was long-awaited in our country. With Your dedication to humanitarian ideas and the universal values of love, peace, and kindness, and with your constant care for matters of concern to the Armenians, You enjoy the great respect and admiration of the Armenian people.

Thank you for gracing us all with this warm historic moment. Thank you for bringing blessing, happiness, and peace to our nation with your presence, for filling our homes and hearts with warmth. Approving the official motto of your visit as a “Visit to the First Christian Nation” and characterizing the trip as a “pilgrimage” by Your Holiness, bears testament to the care Your Holiness has towards our country and our people. It equally attests to the unique bond between the Roman Catholic Church and Armenian Apostolic Church. For this, we are thankful and grateful to you.

Distinguished Guests,

15 years ago, in 2001, the visit to Armenia of His Holiness Pope John Paul II was on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of declaring Christianity as the state religion in our country. Today, this historic visit of Pope Francis signifies another key anniversary—the 25th anniversary of restoring independent Armenian statehood—a cherished celebration for every Armenian.

Throughout the voyage of our millennia-long history, the Armenian people have faced many hardships — from Genocide and foreign oppression to indifference of friends and denial. It faced but never lost the ability to believe in the ideals of humanity, tolerance, and solidarity. It never lost owing to the faith, the values, the peace-loving nature, and for the great humanists who extended a helping hand.

One cannot but believe in the Triumph of Justice when in 100 years, a timeframe that divides 1915 from 2015, the message of justice is being conveyed to the mankind from the heart of the Catholic World heralding that the first of the mass atrocities having affected the humanity, the Armenian Genocide, is a historical fact and an undeniable reality; when notwithstanding all circumstances falsification and denial start to shake in the face of historic justice. This was testified by the new wave of recognition of the Armenian genocide that followed the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

We don’t look for culprits. We don’t spread accusations. We simply want things to be called by their names, as it will allow two neighboring peoples to move towards genuine reconciliation and a shared prosperous future by recognizing the past and embracing forgiveness and a clean conscience.

Your Holiness,

Dear Guests,

The Armenian people’s decision to declare Christianity as a state religion in 301 was indeed a key event in world history. However, it went beyond defining the destiny of the Armenian people: the Christian Faith became the hallmark of the Armenian identity, predetermining our historical course and the values and culture that steered us to the 21st century, to the present, to this very day.

Christianity is deeply-rooted into the Armenian soil and Armenian souls. To remain faithful to Christianity this is a key characteristic of the Armenian people. There is a reason why Armenian churches and cross-stones can be found virtually any country of the world. There is a reason why Saint Gregory of Narek, a great child of the Armenian people, was declared Doctor of the Universal Church, the highest title of the Catholic Church, joining the 36 greatest thinkers in Christianity. It is an honor, a milestone in the appreciation of the nation, which reaffirmed the same-source Christian value system underlying the bonds between Armenia and the Holy See.

Christianity is more than a religion for us. It is a lifestyle, one that instilled in the Armenian people the desire to live in peace and the philosophy of overcoming difficulties restraint and dignity. The more Christian we became, the more we respected and appreciated the faith of others, the more tolerant and peace-loving we became, capable of coexisting peacefully with other peoples and taking even better care of the spiritual-cultural legacy of others on our land.

Examples of inter-religious friendship are numerous. Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran is a case in point. Or, in the Middle East, until the unfavorable developments of the recent past, the presence of peaceful and prosperous Armenian communities and their harmonious coexistence with the host nations and national and religious minorities. We are watching with great sorrow the practices of vandalism and xenophobia in the Middle East, the only aim of which is the deletion of historical memory from those areas through a cultural massacre.

Your Holiness,

As you rightly noted in your address on 12 April, the peoples of this complicated region of ours need peace, referring to the peoples that, in the past, despite their differences and pressure, enjoyed extensive periods of peaceful life and even helped one another in difficulties.

Today, Armenia still aspires for peace. In any event, we prefer peaceful negotiation to shooting. We are ready for peaceful regional coexistence, as hard as the road to peace may be. It is perhaps because durable peace is based upon the idea of people’s freedom and free expression of will.

Your Holiness,

“Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement.” I agree completely. I believe in human achievements, in the ones who maintain peace at the price of their lives every second, in the ones that compel peace.

I am an optimist: I believe that humanity’s dreams of freedom and peace, cherished for centuries, will become reality one day.

Welcome to the First Christian Nation.

The reception ceremony for His Holiness Pope Francis has started at the Presidential Palace where he will meet with the Armenian authorities, representatives of the Armenian public, and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Yerevan. Prior to that, President Serzh Sargsyan and His Holiness Pope Francis had a private meeting at the Golden Hall of the Presidential Palace.

The President expressed gratitude to His Holiness for accepting the invitation to visit Armenia – the First Christian Nation, for bringing blessings and grace to our ancient land and long-suffering people.

At the meeting, in accordance with the protocol there took place the ceremony of gift exchange. President Serzh Sargsyan presented to His Holiness Pope Francis a bronze statuette of the genius of the medieval Armenian thought, a Doctor of the Universal Church Saint Gregory of Narek. During the Pope’s visit, at the Presidential Palace there took place the ceremony of cancelling of a stamp and four postage stamps designed into a mini sheet in a form of a cross, dedicated to the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Armenia. The President of Armenia presented them to His Holiness Pope Francis. The souvenir sheet with one stamp depicts Pope Francis against the backgrounds of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, as well as the logo dedicated to the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia and the coat of arms of Pope Francis. The format of four stamps designed into a form of a cross has a symbolic meaning for the visit of Pope Francis to the first Christian Nation. The four stamps depict Pope Francis against the backgrounds of the statue of Saint Gregory the Illuminator donated to the Vatican by Armenia, a monument dedicated to the theme “Armenia – the first Christian nation” in Yerevan, inner parts of the Main Cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Saint Peter`s Basilica in the Vatican. The souvenir sheet bears the inscription “Pope Francis. Armenia. 24-26 June, 2016”, as well as “Visit to the first Christian Nation” which is the official motto of this visit.

On the occasion of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis’s visit to the Republic of Armenia, the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia has issue a commemorative medal. Pope Francis has also received it as a gift from the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. On one side of the medal there is Khor Virap monastery against the background of Mount Ararat and the dates of the Pope’s visit, and the reverse side of the medal depicts the statue of Saint Gregory the Illuminator at the outer niche of Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and the coat of arms of the Catholic Church.

His Holiness Pope Francis presented to the President of Armenia the original of the commemorative medal which was made on a special occasion of his visit to the Republic of Armenia.

The Central Bank of Armenia has issued a commemorative medal dedicated to the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Republic of Armenia.

Adoption of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia in 301 AD is associated with the name of Saint Gregory the Illuminator who is a saint recognized by all traditional Christian Churches. For centuries his venerated relics were spread all over the Christian world.

Lending importance to strengthening of the existing brotherly relations between Christian Churches, in 2000 His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians paid a visit to the Roman Catholic Church and her leader, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who, in his turn, in 2001 participated in celebrations dedicated to the 1700th Anniversary of adoption of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia.

Scotland’s first minister has said a second independence referendum is “highly likely” after the UK voted to leave the EU, the BBC reports.

Nicola Sturgeon said it was “democratically unacceptable” that Scotland faced the prospect of being taken out of the EU against its will.

She said the Scottish government would begin preparing legislation to enable another independence vote.

Scotland voted in favour of the UK staying in the EU by 62% to 38%.

The UK as a whole has voted to leave, by a margin of 52% to 48%, prompting UK Prime Minister David Cameron to announce he would stand down by October.

The word ‘genocide’ was not included in the  initial text Pope Francis was to deliver at the Presidential Palace today, Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi told a press conference in Yerevan. He said “the Pope says what he finds appopriate, and no can decides what the Pontiff should say.”

“The Pope had no reason to avoid the word ‘genocide,’ the Vatican Spokesman said.

Pope Francis not only used the word ‘genocide’, but also described the tragedy as “the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples.”

Fr. Lombardi said he can’t predict Turkey’s reaction, but added: “The Pope always speaks about peace, reconciliation and dialogue. We must remember the past to prevent new wars in the future, we must understand the lessons of the past to prevent their reoccurrence the future.”

As fo the results of the Pontiff’s first day in Armenia, Fr. Lombardi said: “The Pope is in good health and happy to be Armenia.’”

He described the joint prayer of the leaders of the two Churches at the Mother Cathedra in Etchmiadzin as a “powerful meeting.”

The Spokesman said the Pontiff was most surprised at the gift he received from the Armenian Catholicos – the Pope’s portrait 1 mm in size, which can be seen only though a microscope.