AUDIENCE WITH THE NEW PATRIARCH OF CILICIA OF THE ARMENIANS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 13, 1999 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholics, who has just been elected and who has received ecclesiastical communion from the Pope.

In his address to the patriarch and the members of the synod, the Pope expressed his hope to Nerses Bedros that he may follow the example of his patron, Saint Nerses, in being "a tireless promoter of communion, above all within (your own) Church, then within the marvelous harmony of Catholicism and, finally, in the longed-for path towards full communion with the beloved brethren of the Armenian Apostolic Church."

"Your ministry," he went on, addressing His Beatitude, "requires vibrant spiritual strength. Awaiting you is the exhilarating task of reorganizing the Armenian Catholic Church, the starting point of which is confirming and consolidating that Church in faith."

John Paul II affirmed: "Priests will be the principle object of your care. They request your help in finding the root and meaning of their ministry truly and solidly in Christ, and not in social position or personal prestige."

The Pope also entrusted monks and men and women religious to the patriarch's pastoral care; "May the heritage of whole generations not be lost. Apart from the Pope, the entire Armenian people request this from you, for them the service of culture is also a guarantee of survival."

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