Communion between Armenians and Catholics?

The two Churches both Seek Unity After a Split in 451 A.D. 90% of Armenian Christians are under the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, which separated from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

VATICAN CITY (Zenit) - Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, is responding to an invitation from Benedict XVI to visit him in the Vatican.

The Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, visited Armenia last March and was received by Karekin II. The Vatican official presented a handwritten letter from the Holy Father, inviting the Patriarch to the Vatican.

Karekin II, elected as the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians in October 1999, arrived in Rome today and will participated in events through Sunday.

According to a communiqué released by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the patriarch will be accompanied by 18 bishops of the Catholicosate of all Armenians and by a group of 75 Armenian Apostolic faithful.

On Wednesday, the patriarch will pray at the tomb of St. Peter and visit the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, patron saint of Armenia, which is located in the north patio of the Vatican Basilica.

The Pontiff will welcome him at the beginning of the general audience in St. Peter's Square. In the afternoon, the Catholicos is to receive an honorary doctorate in the theology of pastoral care of youth from the Pontifical Salesian University.

On Thursday, the Patriarch will visit the Pontifical Armenian College and, during the afternoon, participate in an academic congress being held at the Pontifical Oriental Institute on "holy sacrifice in the Armenian tradition."

Friday morning, Karekin II and his entourage will visit the offices of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, after which Benedict XVI will receive the Catholicos in the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

Following a private meeting between the two, the Pope will also receive the bishops accompanying the Patriarch. A celebration of the word of God is due to take place, jointly presided by the Pope and Karekin II, at which the Armenian Apostolic faithful of the Patriarch's entourage will also participate.

On Sunday evening, the Catholicos and his entourage will participate in the celebration of Vespers at the papal basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the final event of the Patriarch's visit to Rome.

In November 2000, scarcely a year after his election, Karekin II visited Pope John Paul II.

During that visit, the Pope and the Patriarch presided at a Liturgy of the Word in the Vatican Basilica during which John Paul II gave the Catholicos a relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator, which had been conserved for many years at the Convent of St. Gregory the Armenian in Naples, Italy.

In September 2001, John Paul II made a visit to Armenia and to the See of Etchmiadzin where the Catholicos resides. The Patriarch also came to Rome for the Polish Pontiff's funeral on April 8, 2005.

The communiqué concluded by explaining that, on the occasions of the various meetings between Bishops of Rome and the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, joint declarations have been signed on questions of great ecumenical importance in the historical, theological and pastoral fields.

More than 90% of Armenian Christians are under the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, which separated from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. A key step toward overcoming this division was taken in 1996 when Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Karekin I signed a joint declaration on the nature of Jesus.