Pope Update: to be greeted at Yerevan airport with apricots and lavash bread

June 22, 2016 By administrator

lavash and apricot YEREVAN. – Pope Francis will be welcomed Friday at Zvartnots International Airport, in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, with the Armenian lavash bread and apricots, noted Vigen Sargsyan, the Presidential Chief of Staff, at a press conference on Wednesday.

“There are additional elements—a children’s choir, and a presentation of Armenian apricot and lavash by Armenian children, upon arrival—in the protocol to greet the Pope,” said Sargsyan.

More than 600 media outlets, half of them international, already have been accredited to cover the Pope’s visit to the first Christian country.

“Workplaces are created for media representatives,” added the presidential chief of staff. “The events can be followed also via live Armenian TV broadcast.”

A large number of Diaspora Armenians also have arrived to attend the events to be held within the framework of Pope Francis’ visit.

The Bishop of Rome will depart from Armenia on Sunday evening

Armenia and Karabakh presidents visit frontline

June 22, 2016 By administrator

President visit President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan arrived in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsah) Wednesday.

The Armenian President, his NKR counterpart Bako Sahkyan and NKR second President Arkady Ghoukasyan visited a number of borderline sections on the southern border, where they got familiarized on the ground with the soldiers’ service and the current situation.

On the same day, the heads of the two Armenian states held a consultation with the supreme command staff of the NKR Defense Army in Karabakh, during which they discussed a wide range of issues concerning army building.

Pope can allow Armenia study archives – Amatuni Virabyan

June 22, 2016 By administrator

The Pope’s archives contain information on every nation, Amatuni Virabyan, Director of the National Archives of Armenia, told reporters on Wednesday.

The problem is that the archives d not classify a great amount of information and the documents related to the Armenian Genocide contain numerous blank spots.

“We [Armenia] have been in contact with the Pope since the 3^rd-4^th centuries. Bu we are most interested in the documents on the Armenian Genocide. Since the Pope has his diplomats in almost all the countries of the world, including the Ottoman Empire,” Mr Virabyan said.

The Pope’s visit is an opportunity for Armenians to make use of the Pope’s archives.

If the Armenian side applies to the Pope, it will be permitted to use the archives.

“We are now taking steps to make have the issue discussed,” Mr Virabyan said.

Over 600 Journalists Applied to Cover Pope Francis’ Visit to Armenia

June 22, 2016 By administrator

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YEREVAN (Arka)—More than 600 media representatives have applied to be accredited to cover the visit of the Pope to Armenia, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its Twitter page.

Pope Francis’ visit to Armenia will commence on June 24 with an official welcoming ceremony at the Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan before the Pope’s travel to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where a welcoming service will be offered in the Mother Cathedral.

In the evening, Pope Francis will meet with President Serzh Sarkisian, then with the authorities, community leaders, and representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia. The first day will conclude with a meeting at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

On the morning of June 25, His Holiness Pope Francis will visit Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and Museum in Yerevan. Pope Francis, along with His Holiness Karekin II, will visit the city of Gyumri, where a Divine Liturgy will be offered in Vardanants Square. The Pope will also visit Our Lady of Armenia Convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Gyumri, then the Seven Wounds Saint Mary Church of the Diocese of Shirak of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and the Holy Martyrs Armenian Catholic Cathedral. In the evening, an outdoor Ecumenical Service and Peace Prayer will be held in Yerevan – in Republic Square.

On June 26, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Pope Francis will meet with Armenian Catholic bishops, and then participate in a Divine Liturgy and an Ecumenical dinner, along with His Holiness Karekin II, the Archbishops and Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, Armenian Catholic Archbishops and Bishops and the Papal delegation. Pope Francis will also meet delegates and benefactors of the Armenian Church. His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Karekin II will sign a joint declaration.

The Spiritual leaders will offer their prayers at the Khor Virap Monastery, following which Pope Francis will depart for Rome..

All for One: Holy Father Seeks Unity, Dangerous Peripheries with Armenia Trip

June 22, 2016 By administrator

Catholicos Kerekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 8, 2014.

NEWS ANALYSIS: With this week’s trip and a second one to neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia in September, the Pope will visit a Caucasus region that’s considered a dangerous regional flashpoint.

by VICTOR GAETAN

In a season dominated by headlines about violence, anger, and disunity, Pope Francis heads to Armenia for three days, June 24-26, to underscore Christian collaboration and common roots.

It’s not a papal cakewalk though.

Armenia is engaged in a long simmering war with Azerbaijan, a “frozen conflict” that flared again in April. These countries have complex relations with their powerful neighbors, Russia and Turkey, which have had deadly clashes this year too.

On Sunday, Pope Francis will approach the long closed Armenian-Turkish border, symbol of 100-plus years of distrust.

Armenia, with Azerbaijan and Georgia — two countries Francis will visit in September — comprise a region known as the Caucasus, considered a dangerous potential flashpoint by many analysts.

For the Pope, that’s all the more reason to pour out Christ’s love, starting with Armenia, the first country to officially adopt Christianity, in 301 AD, long before the Roman Empire did in 380 AD.

Cathedral, sign a joint statement with Kerekin II, and visit the sacred site, Khor Virap Monastery, where St. Gregory was imprisoned for 14 years by a king he would later convert.

The Holy Father’s itinerary has him flying to another city, Gyumri, to say Mass in a region where more Catholics live, but Catholic Catholicos Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, age 81, elected last July is not listed on the most recent Vatican Radio trip schedule.

Following a Saint

As is often the case, Pope Francis is following closely the footsteps of St. John Paul II, who came to Armenia in 2001 to celebrate 1,700 years of Christian history.

St. John Paul opened his trip in the Apostolic Cathedral, participated in a divine liturgy with Catholicos Kerekin II, and honored victims of the genocide by visiting Yerevan’s Tzitzernakaberd Memorial, as Francis will do Saturday morning.

The saint even referred to the first genocide of the twentieth century in a joint written document released with Catholicos Kerekin.

However, Pope Francis was the first pope to say the word “genocide” out loud, at a memorial Mass for Armenian victims last April at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The government of Turkey, which strenuously denies a genocide against Armenia ever occurred, recalled its Ambassador to the Vatican for consultations following the Pope’s Divine Mercy statement on Armenia.

And earlier this month, the German parliament overwhelmingly approved a resolution on the Armenian genocide despite Turkish government warnings that it would harm bilateral relations.

As a result, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalled Turkey’s Ambassador and some German MPs received protection after receiving death threats.

Turkey’s extreme sensitivity to criticism seems illogical considering the three Ottoman leaders who initiated the massacres were sentenced to death for war crimes and mass murder by a Turkish military tribunal in 1919.

Healing Wounds

Thanking the Pope for his support is one reason massive throngs are expected to greet the Holy Father throughout his pilgrimage.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, helped organize St. John Paul II’s pilgrimage to Armenia and has been involved in Pope Francis’ visit since Catholicos Kerekin invited the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in 2014.

Archbishop Barsamian sees three primary messages being conveyed by Pope Francis’s presence: the beauty of Christian unity, the importance of protecting Christianity in the Middle East, and the right method for healing historic wounds.

“As in 2001 when Pope John Paul II came, signifying our close relationship, this visit brings the churches together,” the Archbishop told the Register. “We have had many years of theological dialogue between the Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Church. Dialogue is more powerful by demonstrating unity. We are the Church of Jesus Christ!”

He continued, “This visit will be important because the Holy Father is visiting one of the ancient Christ churches, surrounded by non-Christian forces. His visit is a sign of support not only for Christian faithful in Armenia but to Christian families in the Middle East, who are suffering so greatly.”

Reflecting on the significance of Pope Francis’ remarks April 12, 2015, during a Solemn Mass for the Centenary of the Armenian Martyrdom, the bishop reminded us that the Pope’s purpose in referring to the genocide was to “recognize the wounds so such things will not happen in other parts of the world today.”

Indeed, the Holy Father memorably exclaimed, “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it,” at the beginning of the celebration, held on Divine Mercy Sunday last year.

Archbishop Barsamian said he expects big crowds during the visit because Armenians want to “express their gratitude for such a courageous statement” which caused “the entire world to respond.”

A Long-Standing Appreciation

Pope Francis will be plunging into a culture he has appreciated and honored since serving as Auxiliary Bishop in Buenos Aires, according to Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate of the Apostolic Armenian Church of the Republic of Argentina and Chile.

Archbishop Mouradian became friendly with Bishop Jorge Bergoglio, who he remembers as being extremely sympathetic both to the history of Armenian persecution and to the community’s perseverance in faith.

The Argentinian Catholic leader held requiem masses for Armenian martyrs at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Argentina’s capital city and participated in Armenian celebrations. He invited the Apostolic Archbishop to consecrate with him altars to Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, apostles who traveled in Armenia, at two Catholic churches.

In 2010, now serving as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio placed a traditional Armenian carved cross, a “khackar,” in the cathedral in remembrance of the dead.

According to Syrian-born Archbishop Mouradian, who came to Argentina in 1975, the future pope even said he hoped to be buried under the cathedral’s khackar.

Pope Francis is firm on the importance of recognizing the Armenian genocide to benefit both the Armenian and the Turkish people, His attitude is “Truth is always better than trying to deny or lie,” explained the archbishop to an Armenian news agency.

Since the Pope has this conviction, he is prepared to face reactions such as the Turkish government’s protest last year.

The Armenian people are spread around the world, mainly as a result of the twentieth century’s first genocide, in 1915-1923, when Ottoman leaders initiated a brutal attempt to wipe them out. Some 1.5 million Armenians were murdered and hundreds of thousands were forced out of Anatolia, part of eastern Turkey today.

Religious identity is one of the major explanations for how Armenians have maintained strong cultural continuity, generation after generation, wherever they live.

Some 93% of Armenian people belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox Church.

Only about 5% worldwide belong to the Armenian Catholic Church — and 1% of Armenia’s national population according to a 2011 census — in communion with the Holy See since the 18th century, and based in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is centered in Holy Etchmiadzin, its spiritual center since the fourth century, a dynamic locus of faith and formation: From there, priests are trained and sent around the world to minister to the diaspora.

St. Gregory the Illuminator, Armenia’s first bishop, founded Etchmiadzin in 305 AD.

Orthodox Itinerary

What’s striking about Pope Francis’ itinerary is the extent to which the Armenian Apostolic Church is hosting him.

Even the official logo for the visit highlights the two churches: the Vatican coat of arms on a field of yellow, and the coat of arms of the Apostolic Church on purple, its traditional color.

The Pope arrives Friday and a half hour later, will be praying at the Apostolic Cathedral with Catholicos Kerekin II. (Armenian heads of church are called “Catholicos,” a word derived from the same Greek root for “Catholic,” or universal.) The day will end with a private meeting between the two leaders.

Together, they are expected to officiate over an ecumenical prayer for peace Saturday evening in Yerevan’s Republic Square.

The next morning, Pope Francis is scheduled to participate in a Divine Liturgy at the Apostolic,

Observed Pope Francis’ old friend, “He was ready to face Turkey. He always told the truth and was in favor of justice. He is very brave and very convinced of his convictions, they will not change for anything. He is firm with justice and truth.”

Tension in the Caucasus

What makes the geo-political atmosphere in the Caucasus particularly tense is the standoff between Russia and Turkey using proxy states, respectively predominantly Christian Armenia and predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan.

Last Nov. 24, the Turkish military shot down a Russian military jet. Since then, Russian sanctions against Turkey, and Turkey’s escalating accusations against Armenia, a Russian ally, have revived the specter of war in the region.

Armenia controls a mountainous territory containing130,000 people in Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijani borders. War over this enclave waged from 1988 to 1994. A Russian base in Armenia has provided some stability but if Turkey throws military weight behind its ally, Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, the fragile peace that has lasted for over 20 years could fracture in a monumentally dangerous way.

It is into this caldron that Pope Francis steps.

Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, the Pope will make an apostolic visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, both countries visited by St. John Paul II.

As in Armenia, the Holy See has good relations with the Orthodox Church in Georgia, led by Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II — one of four Orthodox leaders boycotting this week’s Holy and Great Council in Crete.

Less than 1% of the Georgian population is Catholic. Last year, Pope Francis met with Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili, elected in 2014.

Does the Holy See have any cards to play in Azerbaijan?

Yes. The two states entered a diplomatic agreement only five years ago, and have shared a flurry of events and exchanges since.

Azerbaijan is one of only a few a majority Shia Muslim countries in the world. The Catholic Church has cultivated strong relations with Shia Muslim countries around the world, especially in Iran.

At the ordination of a new Armenian Catholic bishop being sent to Istafan, Iran from Beirut last year, a Church official told the Register, “Do people in the West realize we have Catholic Armenian communities in Iran? Do they care? Our faith has helped us survive and the Holy See, discreet but everywhere present, is a key advocate, not just for Catholics but the entire Christian world.”

Senior Register correspondent Victor Gaetan is an award-winning

international correspondent and a contributor to Foreign Affairs magazine.

Source:cregister.com/

Pope Calls for Prayers for Armenia Trip

June 17, 2016 By administrator

pope visit VATICAN, ETCHMIADZIN—Pope Francis on Thursday asked the faithful to pray for his upcoming trip to Armenia, ANSA reports.

“I ask you to pray for me, who in a few days will go as a pilgrim to an eastern land, Armenia, the first among the Nations to receive the Gospel of Jesus,” he said at an audience for the Reunion of Aid Agencies For the Eastern Churches.

The Armenian Apostolic Church called on its followers on Wednesday to gather at its main cathedral in Echmiadzin to greet Pope Francis at the start of his landmark visit to Armenia on June 24, reported Azatutyun.am.

“The Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin invites its faithful to the Mother Cathedral at 3:35 p.m. on June 24 to participate in the official welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis, the Holy Bishop of Rome, which will be held upon his arrival,” read a statement posted on the church website late.

Worshippers will not need official invitations to attend the religious ceremony, it said.

Karekin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and President Serzh Sarkisian invited Francis to visit their country when they separately travelled to the Vatican in 2014. Both men also attended his papal inauguration in 2013, highlighting Armenia’s growing ties with the Roman Catholic Church.

The official logo of the three-day visit is clearly designed to symbolize that rapprochement. It is a round seal painted yellow and purple: the official flag colors of the Vatican and the Armenian Church respectively. The logo also displays the emblems of the two churches.

Francis will have a busy schedule during the upcoming trip. His planned engagements include a visit to the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan, an open-air mass for Armenian Catholics in Gyumri, and a joint ecumenical service with Karekin in Yerevan’s central Republic Square.

Francis has repeatedly paid tribute to some 1.5 million Armenians that were massacred or starved to death by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. He described the massacres as “the first genocide of the 20th century” during an April 2015 mass at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

Turkey accused the pontiff of distorting history and recalled its ambassador to the Vatican in protest. Armenia denounced the furious Turkish reaction.

The late Pope John Paul II recognized the Armenian genocide in a joint declaration with Karekin that was adopted during his 2001 visit to Armenia. Francis is also due to issue a joint declaration with Karekin.

Vice Premier of China, Zhang Gaoli to visit Armenia

June 4, 2016 By administrator

vp visit First-ranked Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China and member of Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party, Zhang Gaoli will head an official delegation to Armenia on June 5.
According to information and public relations department of the Government of Armenia, the Chinese official is to meet with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan. The parties will sign a series of documents on bilateral cooperation.

50.000-60.000 to attend Pope Francis’ prayer in Yerevan

June 3, 2016 By administrator

pope visit Armenia Some 50.000-60.000 people will be able to participate in Pope Francis‘ interchurch prayer in Yerevan, the Director of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin said.

The pope will arrive in Armenia on June 24.

“The first day will kick off with ceremonial events. After landing at Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport, the pontiff will head to Echmiadzin where a welcome ceremony –specifically desined for religious leaders – will be held,” Shahe Ananyan said.

Afterwards, the pope will meet with President Serzh Sargsyan and return to Etchmiadzin for private talks.

“On the second day, Pope Francis will visit Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial where is set to lay a wreath and participate in a prayer of intercession. He will then leave for Gyumri, where a mass is planned to be served by the pontiff. The Catholicos of All Armenians will also participate in the liturgy,” Ananyan said.

After a small brake, Francis will visit Gyumri’s Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God (Seven Wounds) and the Armenian Catholic Church. The pope will then immediately return to Yerevan.

“An interchurch prayer will be offered at the Republic Square in Yerevan, with 50.000-60.000 people set to attend the ceremony,” Anayan added.

On the last day of his visit, Francis will hold several meetings with the bishops and priests of the Armenian Catholic Church, afterwards attending a mass at the open altar of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, served by the Catholicos.

According to Ananyan, a visit to Khor Virap is also scheduled to be held.

ARMENIA: The Pope visits the first Christian nation in history: the logo of the Pope’s visit to Armenia from 24 to 26/06.

May 21, 2016 By administrator

Why Pope Francis’ visit matters to Armenians

May 14, 2016 By administrator

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By Mary Rezac and Elise Harris

Vatican City, May 13, 2016 / 04:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ visit to Armenia this summer comes at a poignant time in the country’s history.

The Holy Father’s June 24-26 visit comes just after the close of the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and during the Year of Mercy, a significance not lost on the Armenian people, said Mikayel Minasyan, Armenian Ambassador to the Holy See.

The Armenian people have learned to be strong because of their history, Minasyan said, referring to the genocide that occurred at the hands of the Ottoman empire during and after World War I and which left as many as 1.5 million Armenians dead.

“It’s strong to remember their own history, it’s strong to understand their own history, it’s strong to accept their own history,” he said of his people.

The centenary anniversary has been a time to recognize the healing and progress that has been made, he added.

“(T)he Armenians made the whole world see what it is to overcome an injustice. They gave the possibility to the world to understand what a genocide is, what the denial of a genocide is. Let’s not forget that the term ‘genocide’ was created above all based on the study of the Armenian genocide.”

The ambassador also said the year has been a time to recognize everyone who has supported the Armenians and raised awareness of the genocide, including Pope Francis, who has recognized the genocide as religiously motivated.

During Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday on April 12, 2015, Pope Francis referred to the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks starting in 1915, as a genocide, a term used in a common declaration signed by both Saint John Paul II and Supreme Armenian Patriarch Karekin II in 2001. That day, Francis offered the Mass for faithful of the Armenian rite in commemoration of the centenary of the “Metz Yeghern,” or Armenian “martyrdom,” which is historically held to have started April 24, 1915.

“We are also very grateful, very grateful to the people from the smallest to the greatest, from Pope Francis, who did something historic celebrating Mass for the Armenian martyrs April 12…calling things as they are, creating another term, ‘ecumenism of blood.’ An ecumenism founded on blood, because the Armenians were exterminated also because they were Christians.”

“Certainly Pope Francis made one of the most fundamental steps in celebrating this Mass in St. Peter’s inviting the hierarchy of the Apostolic Armenian Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, and proclaiming St. Gregory of Narek as a doctor of the Universal Church,” he added.

The Pope has kept strong ties with the Armenian community since his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. A large portion of Armenians immigrated to Argentina following the deportations and killings of World War I, and today the country has one of the largest populations of Armenians in the world.

The Pope’s visit this summer includes a stop at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, which was built in memorial of those who perished in the genocide, as well as time for ecumenical meetings with leaders of all faiths, and prayers for peace, according to the schedule released by the Vatican.

The Armenian people are “full of joy” that Pope Francis is coming, the ambassador said, and are looking forward to his visit, since he has been so supportive of the Armenian people.

“…the Armenian people are waiting with a great excitement to manifest their own remembrance. Pope Francis is going to Armenia to fulfill this visit in full respect and love for the Armenian people and for their history. And also the recognition of what the Armenian Republic represents now in that region,” he said.

“We await him, everyone is waiting for him. Certainly it will be a very significant moment, also because it’s a very busy trip. The fact that His Holiness goes to Armenia in the Year of Mercy is also another fact that we appreciate a lot.”

The Holy Father’s recognition and remembrance of the Armenian genocide is especially meaningful amid ongoing denials of the event or denial of responsibility for the event on the part of some Turkish politicians and other political leaders, Minasyan noted.

“We are not closing this year, turning a page. We are opening another book and this new book is titled ‘The fight against denialism,’ and it is yet to be seen.”

While most people no longer deny the Armenian genocide, “the politicians do,” Minasyan said. “In private they say yes, but in public, for political reasons, they deny it. Political denial is the most hideous denial that there is.”

It is also important for people to remember the Armenian genocide because of what it has meant for the Middle East, Minasyan said.

“Now we see that in the past 100 years the quantity, speaking in percentages, of Christians is drastically diminishing. In the past five years it has been something truly dramatic. I don’t want to put it into a box, but all of it started with the Armenian genocide.”