6:46pm The papal plane has taken off from the Yerevan international airport.
6:02pm Wrapping up his three-day visit to the world’s first Christian country, Pope Francis on Sunday evening headed to the Zvartnots International Airport on Sunday evening to fly back to Rome.
The pontific is accompanied by President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, high-ranking clergymen and top government officials.
The Pope, who offered his Peace Prayer in Yerevan’s Republic Square on the first day of his visit, will be remembered in Armenia as a great philanthropist who never recoiled at voicing historical truths, condemning the Armenian Genocide and calling for peace over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Pope also stood out with his modest conduct and plain way of communicating with ordinary people in Armenia.
In the course of his historic journey, the Pope visited the Mother See of St Echmiadzin, the second largest city, Gyumri, and the monastery Khor Virap (where, together with the Armenian patriarch, he released doves towards Mount Ararat as a sign of peace).