On May 9^th the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II who was visiting Rome with a delegation of eighteen bishops and archbishops, came to the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls to preside at an ecumenical celebration together with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The two men led prayers at the tomb of the Apostle for the fruitful development of relations between the two Churches which began during the pontificate of John Paul II and have continued under Benedict XVI who met with the delegation earlier in the morning at the Vatican. The celebration took place in the apse of the basilica dominated by the great mosaic of Christ beneath which the monks of the Benedictine Abbey processed with their abbot Fr Edmund Power, followed by the Armenian bishops and their Patriarch between Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Andrea di Montezemolo, Archpriest of the Basilica who welcomed the visiting delegation. He greeted them on their visit to the tomb of St Paul in preparation for the celebrations marking the two thousandth anniversary of his birth and in particular he recalled the aim of those celebrations, to make better known the teachings of the Apostle, to advance the ecumenical dialogue and to pray for the unity of Christians. The Abbot introduced Vespers which were sung in Latin and Armenian with readings and prayers in Italian and English. The Patriarch then reflected in Armenian on the feast of Pentecost, invoking the Holy Spirit to further the path of Christian unity and this desire was reaffirmed by Cardinal Kasper in his message of thanks given in English. The celebration concluded with a blessing given by the Patriarch and the Cardinal to the large crowd of Armenian faithful and pilgrims present in the basilica.

News by Anno Paolino