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, the pres service of Armenia’s Central Bank reports.

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.

Obverse: the Monastery of Khor Virap against the Mountain Ararat and the date of Pope Francis’ visit.
Reverse: the statue of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in the niche of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican (2005, sculptor – Khachik Ghazanchyan), the Coats of Arms of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

The commemorative medal is in limited quantity and has historic-cultural value.