Vatican City, 31 May 2014 (VIS) – His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
Cilicia, will visit Rome to meet with His Holiness Pope Francis. His
Holiness Aram I was elected Catholicos of Cilicia of Antelias in
1995.
The Armenian Church consists of two
catholicates and two patriarchates, and around six million faithful.
The two catholicates of Etchmiadzin and Antelias are in full
communion, but they are independent from an administrative point of
view. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian
Patriarchate of Constantinople refer to Etchmiadzin for spiritual
questions.
Following Vatican Council II, new
relations have developed between the Catholic Church and the Armenian
Church. Representatives of the two Catholicates of Etchmiadzin and
Antelias are members of the Mixed International Commission for
theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental
Orthodox Churches.
His Holiness Aram I visited the Church
of Rome and met with Pope John Paul II from 23 to 26 January 1997.
More recently, the Catholicos Aram I visited Pope Benedict XVI in
November 2008, and on that occasion they presided over an ecumenical
prayer together.
On Thursday 5 June the Catholicos will
meet Pope Francis and they will pray together. They will visit the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and various other
dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Finally, they will visit the tomb of
St. Peter and pray before the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator,
which is located on the north courtyard of the Vatican Basilica.
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