Pope Leo XIV receives Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, in an audience on Tuesday at Castel Gandolfo.
By Salvatore Cernuzio
Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, was received in audience by Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday morning, the first meeting between the two. Since his election twenty-five years ago, Catholicos Karekin has met with St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.
Tuesday’s audience took place at Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Leo has been since Monday evening.
The meeting unfolded in “a fraternal and cordial atmosphere, during which various ecclesial issues were discussed, and the Armenian Patriarch emphasized the fate of the Armenians of Artsakh,” Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Etchmiadzin to the Holy See, explained in a phone interview with Vatican News.
The Patriarch extended an invitation to the Pope to visit Armenia, Archbishop Barsamian continued, and both reaffirmed the necessity of peace—peace founded on justice, as Catholicos Karekin emphasized.
Pope Leo and Catholicos Karekin at Castel Gandolfo (@Vatican Media)
Meetings with Curial heads and the visit to Francis’ tomb
Together with the Catholicos were all the members of the delegation who accompanied him on this visit to Rome.
Following the audience with Pope Leo, the group made its way to the Vatican, where the Patriarch met with Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The day’s program also included a visit to Saint Mary Major: in the Papal Basilica, Karekin II wished to pay his respects to Pope Francis—with whom he had established a relationship of dialogue and friendship—by praying before his tomb. He then paused to spend time in prayer before the icon of the Salus Populi Romani.
Catholicos Karekin II at the tomb of Francis in the Basilica of St Mary Major
Previous visits to the Vatican
The Catholicos’ first visit to Rome dates back to November 9–10, 2000, when, as the newly elected Catholicos of All Armenians, he was the guest of Saint John Paul II on the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000.
During that visit, following the declaration signed by Saint Paul VI and His Holiness Vasken I on May 12, 1970, a Joint Declaration was signed: a step along the still-ongoing journey toward restoring full communion between the two Churches.
“Together we confess our faith in the Triune God and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who became man for our salvation. We also believe in One, Catholic, Apostolic and Holy Church. The Church, as the Body of Christ, indeed, is one and unique. This is our common faith, based on the teachings of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church,” the Declaration stated. “We continue to pray for full and visible communion among us,” it continued, reaffirming the “common mission,” namely “to teach the apostolic faith and to witness to the love of Christ for all human beings, especially those living in difficult circumstances.”
During that visit, John Paul II presented Karekin with the relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. One year later, from September 25-27, 2001, the Polish Pope visited Armenia to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the declaration of Christianity as the state religion.
He was the first Pope to set foot on Armenian soil. The relics of Saint Gregory were also presented to the Patriarch of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenians, Aram I, and to the then-Armenian Catholic Patriarch, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni.
The traditional exchange of gifts at the audience (ANSA)
Meetings with Benedict XVI and Francis
Catholicos Karekin II returned to the Vatican on May 6-9, 2008, at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI, to participate in an ecumenical celebration presided over by the Pope.
On April 12, 2015, the Catholicos found himself once again at the Vatican, in accordance with the desire of Pope Francis, who wanted to have the head of the Armenian Church of Etchmiadzin at his side during the Mass celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica in memory of the Armenian martyrs of 1915. During that celebration, Pope Francis proclaimed Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Universal Church—a moment of profound significance for the entire Armenian Church.
Following in the footsteps of John Paul II, Pope Francis too visited Armenia, from June 24 to 26, 2016. The “first Christian country”—as the motto of the apostolic journey declared—was honored again by the Argentine Pope in 2018, when he inaugurated a statue of Saint Gregory of Narek in the Vatican Gardens. Karekin II was present that day as well, along with the then President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan.
That same year, in October, Karekin II again visited Pope Francis and met with numerous members of the Roman Curia. Another meeting took place in September 2020, and on that occasion the Catholicos shared with the Pope an update on the situation that had arisen following the military operations against Artsakh. He thus underscored the importance of the Pope’s appeals to end the conflict and to re-establish peace.
