Catholic Church leader John Paul II has expressed his support to the Catholicos of all Armenians Garegin II in maintaining the lands owned by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The letter received in Holy Echmiadzin, which is the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, expresses Vatican’s concern about the Armenian Patriarchal lands seized by the Israeli army for building the security fence between Israel and Palestine. The letter also reports that the department of foreign relations of Vatican is charged to address the Israeli government to request a just solution of the problem. “I hope that the settlement of the situation is possible on the basis of free will and mutual respect, as a result of which the oldest Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem will be preserved, and thus another blow against the presence of the Christianity in the Holy city will be prevented,” – John Paul II noted.
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