Saint Gregory of Narek

The official inaugural ceremony of the bronze statue of Saint Gregory of Narek, a 10th century prominent Armenian poet, monk, philosopher and theologian, will be held in the Vatican on April 5, La Stampa reports.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, will arrive in the Vatican to take part in the inauguration ceremony, to be followed by a meeting between Pope Francis and the Armenian religious leaders.

The works of erecting the statue of St. Gregory of Narek in the Vatican Gardens completed two days ago. The 2-meter-tall bronze statue was made in the Czech Republic.

During the 2016 visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan presented him a bronze statuette of the Saint Gregory of Narek as a symbolic meaning for the visit of Pope Francis to the first Christian Nation. While presenting the souvenir, President Sargsyan wished to see the original statue in Vatican in the future that was approved by the Pope.

The Pope declared St. Gregory of Narek as a Doctor of the Universal Church in Feb. 2015 during the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.