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Catholic World News News Feature

Pope to Visit Armenia in 2001 September 13, 2000

VATICAN, Sep. 13, 00 (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II will visit Armenia in June 2001, a Church official has reported.

Bishop Gregory Ghabroyan, the spiritual leader of the Armenian-rite Catholics in Western Europe, announced that the Pope would accept an invitation that will be formally delivered early in November, when Catholicos Karekin II Nersissian, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visits Rome.

Karekin II, the "supreme catholicos of all the Armenians," was elected in October 1999 to succeed Karekin I. The latter, the spiritual head of a Church was has been separated from Rome for centuries, had been particularly close to Pope John Paul, and had made great strides toward re-establishing unity between the Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic churches. Karekin I died in June 1999; his final illness caused the postponement of a papal trip to Armenia, which had been scheduled at his invitation.

Now, however, the path is clear for a papal visit. "John Paul II is very anxious to go to Armenia, and the Armenian authorities have already invited him. If his health permits it, the trip should not pose any problem at all," said Bishop Ghabroyan. The year 2001 will furnish an apt occasion for the papal visit, since it marks the 1700th anniversary of the first evangelization of Armenia.

Some Vatican insiders have suggested that the papal visit may occur not in June, but in September of 2001. But Bishop Ghabroyan expressed confidence that the June date would soon be announced officially.

Meanwhile, the Armenian-rite Catholics of the world will celebrate their Jubilee in Rome on September 14, led by their Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX. After their celebration, a group of about 20 bishops, religious superiors, and other leaders of the Armenian Catholic Church will remain in Rome for their annual synod, September 19- 27.

The Armenian Catholic Church dates from the 18th century, when the Holy See appointed a patriarch to provide pastoral care for the Armenians living in exile in the Holy Land. Today there are about 250,000 Armenian Catholics, spread across Syria and Lebanon as well as Armenia itself.

The Armenian Apostolic Church split from Rome because of disagreements over the dogmatic formulations of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Those disagreements were largely overcome in a joint statement of doctrine signed by Pope John Paul II and Catholicos Karekin I, paving the way for a renewal of full ecclesial communion. Today there are 3.5 million members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, living in Armenia, Russia, Georgia, the Middle East, Europe, and America.