ECUMENICAL CELEBRATION: TO WALK TOGETHER THAT WORLD MAY BELIEVE

VATICAN CITY, SEP 26, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father travelled at 6:00 p.m. local time from the Apostolic See of Etchmiadzin to the new Apostolic Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator, which was consecrated last Sunday by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.

The cathedral has a seating capacity of 1,700, representing the number of years which have passed since the proclamation of Christianity as the official religion of Armenia. The cathedral holds the relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator, given to Karekin II by John Paul II during an ecumenical celebration in St. Peter's Basilica in November of 2000.

Participating in today's ceremony were the President of the Republic, Robert Kotcharian, other civil and political authorities, and members of the diplomatic corps.

The ecumenical celebration included the reading of the Word of God, homilies by the Pope and the Patriarch, the profession of faith, the universal prayer, an exchange of the kiss of peace, and veneration of the relic of St. Gregory.

"My visit today," said the Pope, "testifies to our shared yearning to dwell in the full unity which the Lord wills for his disciples. ... I pray that my visit will be a kind of consecration of the already rich and fruitful cooperation existing between us."

John Paul II affirmed that "there is a real and intimate unity between the Catholic Church and the Church of Armenia since both preserve apostolic succession and have valid sacraments, particularly Baptism and the Eucharist. Our awareness of this must inspire us to work even harder to strengthen our ecumenical dialogue."

"My ardent prayer is for a renewal of the 'exchange of gifts' of which the Church of the first millennium gave such wonderful examples. May the memory of the time when the Church 'breathed with both lungs' spur Christians of East and West to walk together in unity of faith and with respect for legitimate diversity, accepting and sustaining each other as members of the one Body of Christ."

Referring to the "spiritual emptiness of communism and materialism" experienced by the society, the Holy Father emphasized the need to "proclaim the good news of salvation to the men and women of our time."

"We have a great responsibility towards them," he continued, "and they expect from us a convincing witness of unity of faith and mutual love. As we work for full communion, let us do together what we do not have to do separately. Let us work together, with full respect for our distinctive identities and traditions. Never again Christians against Christians, never again Church against Church! Rather, let us walk together, hand in hand, so that the world of the twenty-first century and the new millennium may believe!"

After the ecumenical celebration, the Pope travelled to the Apostolic See of Etchmiadzin where he spent the night.

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