11.10.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. On November 10 Pope John Paul II will solemnly hand over to the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, who brought the Gospel to Armenia early in the 4th century, the official statement from Vatican says.
The relics will be placed in Yerevan’s Cathedral of Gregory the Illuminator construction of which will be completed in 2001, when Armenia will solemnly celebrate the 1700th anniversary of adoption of Christianity as a state religion.
The visit of the Armenian Catholicos will last 4 days and it is expected that Garegin the II will hand over to the Pope John II the invitation to visit Armenia. Garegin the II stated earlier about his intentions to discuss in November with Pope the issues of interchurch relations as well as to sign joint declaration. The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church stressed that no theological issues will be discussed during his meeting with Pope John II.
His Holiness John Paul II was to visit Armenia in summer 1999 but the visit was put off because of deadly illness of the Catholicos of All Armenian Garegin the First, whose attempts to normalize the relations with the catholic church caused a split among the hierarchs of the Armenian Church.
In 1996 Garegin I and John Paul II signed a joint declaration and admitted that the very fact of it is a considerable progress in the religious relations and will serve to start a dialogue to smoothen the century-long contradictions. But several authoritative theologists spoke at once in Armenia with publications asserting points included in the joint declaration, which are a rather serious deviation from the Armenian Christian traditions. -0-
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