DECLARATIONS FROM HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 1999 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls, in a statement issued from Bydgoszcz, Poland today said: "The news has reached us of the worsening health of His Holiness Karekin I, supreme patriarch and Catholicos of all the Armenians. In this regard, an envoy from Catholicos Karekin I has asked to meet with His Holiness John Paul II. The encounter will take place in coming days in Warsaw."

In another declaration, he stated: "The news coming from the Balkans is not encouraging. The Holy Father is very concerned for this impasse. Naturally, his thoughts go first and foremost to the intolerable suffering of the refugees, and he hopes that, with everyone accepting the agreements already made, a stable peace in the area will be achieved as soon as possible."

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