The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church during a meeting Tuesday at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Armenia.
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Catholicos Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, met Pope Leo for the first time at Villa Barberini, the papal summer residence overlooking Lake Albano. Leo has recently begun spending Tuesdays, the pope’s traditional day off, in Castel Gandolfo while the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City undergoes renovations.
The two discussed the need for a peace based on justice, according to Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Armenian Church’s representative to the Holy See, in comments to the Armenian-language edition of Vatican Media.
The invitation would mark a continuation of ecumenical dialogue and papal outreach to Armenia, the first state to adopt Christianity as its state religion in A.D. 301. Karekin II has previously traveled to the Vatican for meetings with John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.
John Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Armenian soil in 2001, visiting for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the country’s Christian heritage. Pope Francis followed with a three-day trip to Armenia in 2016.
The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes known as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, is the national church of Armenia and part of the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches.
It is distinct from the much smaller Armenian Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome. The Armenian Church formally broke with Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though relations have deepened in recent decades. In 1996, John Paul II and then-Patriarch Karekin I signed a declaration affirming their shared Christian origins.
In addition to his audience with the pope, Karekin II met in Rome with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. He also prayed at the Basilica of St. Mary Major before the tomb of Pope Francis and the Marian icon of Salus Populi Romani.
Karekin II’s first visit to Rome dates back to November 2000, when, newly elected, he was received by John Paul II during celebrations for the jubilee of 2000. On that occasion, John Paul presented him with relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint credited with converting Armenia’s king to Christianity in the fourth century.
Armenians worldwide maintain strong ties to their church, shaped in part by the 1915 genocide, known in Armenia as the Medz Yeghern (“Great Evil Crime”). Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, according to the Associated Press. Pope Francis in 2015 called it the “first genocide of the 20th century,” drawing a strong protest from Turkey.
The Vatican has yet to announce any international trips for the new pope, although many expect his first journey abroad will be ecumenical in nature, a trip to Turkey to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.
This article was originally published by CNA.
