At 10:30am today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience His Holiness, Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.
During their meeting, following some private exchanges, His Holiness Karekin II and Pope Francis pronounced official speeches and then exchanged gifts. Finally, in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, they prayed together before the meeting came to an end.
Your Holiness, Dear Brother,
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am very happy to extend a most cordial welcome to you, Your Holiness, and to this distinguished delegation that accompanies you. Through the person of Your Holiness, I extend a respectful and affectionate greeting to the members of the family of the Catholicate of all Armenians, spread throughout the world. It is a special grace to be able to meet in this house, near the tomb of the Apostle Peter, and to share a moment of fraternity and prayer.
With you, I bless the Lord, for the bonds between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Church of Rome have been strengthened during these most recent years, thanks to events that remain etched in our memory, such as the voyage of my holy predecessor John Paul II to Armenia in 2001, and the joyous presence of Your Holiness in the Vatican on numerous occasions of special importance, among which were the official visit with Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and the celebration of the inauguration of my ministry as Bishop of Rome last year.
But I would like to also mention another celebration, itself pregnant with significance, in which Your Holiness took part: the Commemoration of the Witness of faith of the twentieth century which took place in the context of the Great Jubilee of 2000. Truly, the number of disciples who shed their blood for Christ in tragic circumstances during the last century was certainly greater than the number of all the martyrs from the first centuries, and among this recent martyrology, many of the sons of the Armenian nation share places of honour. The mystery of the cross, Your Holiness, so dear to the memory of your people, represented by the splendid stone crosses which adorn every corner of your homeland, have been seen by countless numbers among your sons as direct participation in the chalice of the Lord's Passion. Their testimony, both tragic and shocking, must never be forgotten.
Your Holiness, dear brothers and sisters, the suffering endured by Christians in recent decades has also provided a unique and inestimable contribution to the cause of unity between the disciples of Christ. As it was in the ancient Church, when the blood of martyrs became seeds of new Christians, so it is in our time: the blood of many Christians has become seed for the sowing of unity. The ecumenism of suffering, the ecumenism of martyrdom, the ecumenism of blood is a powerful reminder to walk the road of reconciliation between our Churches with determination and in a spirit of trusting surrender to the action of the Spirit. We feel the need to walk this road in fraternity out of a sense of debt that we owe to the suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters, which is salvific because of our unity in the passion of Christ.
In this regard, I wish to thank Your Holiness for the effective support given to ecumenical dialogue, especially to the work of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, and for the invaluable theological contribution offered to that discussion by representatives from the Catholicate of all Armenians.
Blessed be God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation! He consoles us in all our tribulations, so we too can console those who find themselves in every kind of affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves have been consoled by our God (2 Cor 1:3-4). Let us faithfully run the race that lies ahead, supported in this effort by such a great number of witnesses (cf Heb 12:1) and let us implore from the Father, the unity for which Jesus Christ himself prayed during the Last Supper (cf Jn 17:21).
Let us pray for one another: may the Holy Spirit illuminate and guide us toward the glorious day on which we will be able to share the Eucharistic meal. Let us praise the Lord with the words of Saint Gregory of Narek: Welcome the song of blessing of our lips and deign to grant to this Church the gifts and the graces of Zion and of Bethlehem, that we may be worthy to participate in salvation. May the All Holy Mother of God intercede for the Armenian people, now and forever. Amen.
During their meeting, following some private exchanges, His Holiness Karekin II and Pope Francis pronounced official speeches and then exchanged gifts. Finally, in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, they prayed together before the meeting came to an end.
Speech of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the meeting with His Holiness, Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians
Your Holiness, Dear Brother,
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am very happy to extend a most cordial welcome to you, Your Holiness, and to this distinguished delegation that accompanies you. Through the person of Your Holiness, I extend a respectful and affectionate greeting to the members of the family of the Catholicate of all Armenians, spread throughout the world. It is a special grace to be able to meet in this house, near the tomb of the Apostle Peter, and to share a moment of fraternity and prayer.
With you, I bless the Lord, for the bonds between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Church of Rome have been strengthened during these most recent years, thanks to events that remain etched in our memory, such as the voyage of my holy predecessor John Paul II to Armenia in 2001, and the joyous presence of Your Holiness in the Vatican on numerous occasions of special importance, among which were the official visit with Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and the celebration of the inauguration of my ministry as Bishop of Rome last year.
But I would like to also mention another celebration, itself pregnant with significance, in which Your Holiness took part: the Commemoration of the Witness of faith of the twentieth century which took place in the context of the Great Jubilee of 2000. Truly, the number of disciples who shed their blood for Christ in tragic circumstances during the last century was certainly greater than the number of all the martyrs from the first centuries, and among this recent martyrology, many of the sons of the Armenian nation share places of honour. The mystery of the cross, Your Holiness, so dear to the memory of your people, represented by the splendid stone crosses which adorn every corner of your homeland, have been seen by countless numbers among your sons as direct participation in the chalice of the Lord's Passion. Their testimony, both tragic and shocking, must never be forgotten.
Your Holiness, dear brothers and sisters, the suffering endured by Christians in recent decades has also provided a unique and inestimable contribution to the cause of unity between the disciples of Christ. As it was in the ancient Church, when the blood of martyrs became seeds of new Christians, so it is in our time: the blood of many Christians has become seed for the sowing of unity. The ecumenism of suffering, the ecumenism of martyrdom, the ecumenism of blood is a powerful reminder to walk the road of reconciliation between our Churches with determination and in a spirit of trusting surrender to the action of the Spirit. We feel the need to walk this road in fraternity out of a sense of debt that we owe to the suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters, which is salvific because of our unity in the passion of Christ.
In this regard, I wish to thank Your Holiness for the effective support given to ecumenical dialogue, especially to the work of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, and for the invaluable theological contribution offered to that discussion by representatives from the Catholicate of all Armenians.
Blessed be God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation! He consoles us in all our tribulations, so we too can console those who find themselves in every kind of affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves have been consoled by our God (2 Cor 1:3-4). Let us faithfully run the race that lies ahead, supported in this effort by such a great number of witnesses (cf Heb 12:1) and let us implore from the Father, the unity for which Jesus Christ himself prayed during the Last Supper (cf Jn 17:21).
Let us pray for one another: may the Holy Spirit illuminate and guide us toward the glorious day on which we will be able to share the Eucharistic meal. Let us praise the Lord with the words of Saint Gregory of Narek: Welcome the song of blessing of our lips and deign to grant to this Church the gifts and the graces of Zion and of Bethlehem, that we may be worthy to participate in salvation. May the All Holy Mother of God intercede for the Armenian people, now and forever. Amen.
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