11.11.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. “The 20th century was marked by extreme violence. The Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a prologue to horrors that would follow,” reads the communique of the Pope John II and the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II signed upon the end of the visit of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church to Vatican.
In the communique the two spiritual leaders also stressed that the fraternal relations between the See of Rome and the See of Etchmiadzin have further developed and deepened in recent years and that this progress finds its expression in their present personal meeting.
During the visit the Catholicos Garegin II invited Pope John II to visit Armenia, however, Pope did not respond the invitation yet and stressed that he hoped to visit Armenia in 1999. The visit of Pope John II was postponed because of sickness of the then Catholicos Garegin I who had died last summer. Pope John Paul II said: “I was in close connections with the late Catholicos and hope to visit Armenia as a sign of our friendship.”
There are century-long dogmatic discord between Vatican and Etchmiadzin. All attempts on establishing durable dialog between the two Churches were in vain. –0–
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