On September 25\u201327, 2001, His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II made a pilgrimage to Armenia on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion. This was an unprecedented historical event: the Head of the Catholic Church, the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, was visiting Armenia for the first time with the purpose of paying tribute with his paternal love and respect to the Armenian people, and appreciating Armenia’s immense spiritual and historical heritage, which holds its unique place in the historical treasury of the Universal Church’s spiritual heritage.<\/p>\n
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At Zvartnots Airport, where he was welcomed by the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, many high-ranking clergy\u2014including H. E. Archbishop Nerses Der-Nersessian, the Ordinary of the Catholic Armenians in Armenia, Georgia, and Eastern Europe, accompanied by the Armenian Catholic clergy\u2014and high-ranking state officials. In his speech, Pope St. John Paul II stated:<\/p>\n
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“The whole Catholic Church shares your deep joy and the joy of all Armenians on the Seventeen Hundredth Anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the official religion of this cherished land… Through the witness and work of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, Christianity for the first time became the faith of an entire nation… You zealously guard the memory of your many martyrs: indeed, martyrdom has been the special mark of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people.”<\/p>\n
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As the most beautiful description of those three historical days, below are excerpts from the memories of the Ordinary of Armenian Catholics at the time, the late Most Rev. Archbishop Nerses Der-Nersessian, written in his own hand:<\/p>\n
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“At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Armenia and Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the Holy Pope of Rome comes to Armenia. From the moment of his arrival at Yerevan’s ‘Zvartnots’ Airport (25.09.2001), hosted by the highest political and ecclesiastical authorities, he became the object of exceptional honors and special attention until the touching evening of departure (27.09.2001)\u2026 Stepping down from the plane with his entourage, the Holy Pope first kissed the sacred soil of Armenia as a sign of deep respect to our many thousands of martyrs of faith. After the exchange of greetings, a long motorcade moved under the warm midday sun toward Holy Etchmiadzin, where\u2014at the Mother Cathedral and the Veharan (residence) of the Catholicos of All Armenians\u2014fraternal and heartfelt mutual speeches, prayers, hymns, and addresses took place in a joyful and favorable atmosphere, in the presence of numerous Cardinals, Bishops, and other Latin, Apostolic, and Armenian Catholic clergy. Pleasant gifts were exchanged\u2026<\/p>\n
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The Holy Pope\u2019s visit to the President of the Republic was exceptionally intimate in nature; touching was the quiet moment of prayer at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in memory of the victims of the 1915\u20131922 Genocide, in whose honor the Holy Pope blessed a newly planted tree. An official banquet at the Residence of Holy Etchmiadzin closed the first part of the second day of the Papal visit. In the evening, an ecumenical prayer service was held in the newly constructed Cathedral Church of Yerevan, ending with veneration of the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator; it was attended by many thousands of believers, Armenian Catholic groups living in the capital, as well as the Armenian Sisters with their students, whose choir sang the famous hymn ‘Thou Art the Rock’ in the courtyard (26.09.2001).<\/p>\n
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The last day of the visit (27.09.2001) was the glorious culmination of the celebrations, with a solemn Papal Mass according to the Latin rite before the newly constructed open-air altar of Holy Etchmiadzin. Concelebrating alongside the Holy Pope was the Ordinary of the Armenian Catholic Church in Armenia, Most Rev. Archbishop Nerses Der-Nersessian, surrounded by numerous Armenian Catholic celibate priests, deacons, and acolytes, wearing magnificent embroidered copes and vestments, who enlivened the ceremony with great solemnity, spreading the sweet fragrance of incense with the gentle grace of the flabella and censers. The Academic Choir of Yerevan frequently joined in at appropriate moments of the ceremony with harmonious melodies of the Armenian Mass.<\/p>\n
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His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, who was present with several bishops, opened the ceremony with warm and touching words of greeting in honor of the Holy Pope celebrant. Then Most Rev. Archbishop Nerses Der-Nersessian commemorated the century-old ties between the Holy See of Rome and the Armenian Catholicoses in a long address. With emotion and grateful feelings, he expressed thanks to the Holy Pope for the great gifts he had bestowed upon Armenia (the founding of the ‘Redemptoris Mater’ \/ ‘Our Lady of Narek’ Hospital in Ashotsk, the creation of the Ordinariate), and for the encouraging and comforting attitude he had shown over the last decade.<\/p>\n
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The Holy Pope’s homily, read in Armenian, touched all present. His paternal exhortation to live a Christian life with a renewed spirit\u2014stoked with deepened faith, fraternal love, and ecumenical sentiments\u2014enthused the hearts of all. The Holy Pope’s words were illuminated by the commemoration of ancient and new Armenian martyrs, and by the mention of the noble and brave figures sent by him to Armenia in recent times, to which he added his apostolic blessing amidst prolonged applause from the faithful.<\/p>\n
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8,000 Catholic Armenians from 37 settlements in Armenia and Georgia, even from very distant villages and towns, having traveled all night, set foot at dawn on the sacred square of Holy Etchmiadzin\u2014the religious center of all Armenians\u2014to piously participate in the unique ceremony. Hundreds of flags and banners fluttered in greeting to the Holy Pope with indescribable spiritual delight. 20 Armenian Catholic priests distributed Holy Communion, in both species of bread and wine, to the many thousands of pilgrims.<\/p>\n
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After the Mass, a pleasant visit to Kanaker, to the Armenian Catholic Prelacy, flooded the Armenian Catholic Center with a new light. At 1:30 PM, the Holy Pope’s entourage stopped before the flag-adorned gate amidst enthusiastic applause from the assembled faithful. Two children in Armenian traditional costumes presented the traditional bread and salt at the entrance of the Center to the Holy Guest, who tasted it and blessed the little ones. In the chapel, after a quiet moment of prayer, the Holy Pope presented a beautiful gilded chalice to the Most Rev. Ordinary.<\/p>\n
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The Catholicos of All Armenians participated in the lunch given in honor of the Holy Pope, accompanied by two Archbishops. The Holy Pope was followed by Cardinals and Bishops, His Beatitude the Catholicos-Patriarch of Catholic Armenians with his Bishops, and 25 Armenian Catholic priests from our Ordinariate and abroad. During lunch, the Ordinary humbly offered a brief greeting to the Holy Pope using Elizabeth’s touching words to the Virgin Mary at Ain Karem. He then presented the Holy Pope with a large, beautifully sculpted vase featuring a colorful iconographic depiction of the Annunciation of the Mother of God.<\/p>\n
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After lunch, the Holy Pope blessed the Armenian Sisters serving in the Armenian Catholic Diocese of Armenia, even the table servers, and from the building’s small balcony, he blessed the children who were shouting with joy and singing below, seeking the Holy Pope’s blessing.<\/p>\n
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The entourage returned to Holy Etchmiadzin, where in the evening a brief farewell ceremony took place, and a jointly signed document was issued by the Holy Pope and the Catholicos to commemorate the glorious Jubilee of 2001\u2014brightened by the blessed memory of St. Gregory the Illuminator, but also highlighting the bloodiest events of our history, the tragic page of 1915, now indelible with the Holy Pope’s visit and blessing. The document also notes the agreements signed with the last two Catholicoses of All Armenians, and in particular, the declarations made regarding Christological doctrine.<\/p>\n
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In Khor Virap, as if for the last time, hymns and prayers resounded while a bright pilgrim lantern, receiving its light from the pit of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s suffering, was passed from the hands of the Catholicos of All Armenians to the Holy Pope. At the airport, after farewell addresses, along with the final glimmers of sunset, as the Holy Pontiff of Rome slowly climbed the airplane stairs, the flame of the pilgrim lantern flickered\u2014a holy light that was to connect Armenia and the entire East with the Eternal City. And that trembling light of the lamp rekindled in the hearts of Armenians the lines written by Catholicos St. Nerses the Gracious in 1144, which sound as follows: ‘And you, Rome, mother of cities \u2013 most illustrious and venerable, Great Seat of Peter \u2013 Chief of Apostles, unshakable Church \u2013 built on the Cephas the Rock, Inaccessible to the gates of hell \u2013 and key-holder opening the heavens.’ (Lament on Edessa, pub. Venice, 1928, beginning).”<\/p>\n
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You can familiarize yourself with the addresses, homilies, and the joint declaration signed with the Catholicos of All Armenians during Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to Armenia in the publications posted in the same category<\/a><\/span><\/em>, on this website, <\/em>as well as on the official website<\/a> <\/span>of the Papal Nunciature in Armenia.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prepared by:<\/p>\n Fr. Hovsep Galstyan<\/p>\n Chancellor of the Ordinariate<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here is a video where you can see footage from Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to Armenia:<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n