Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, head of the Armenian Catholic Church, congratulated Pope Francis on the 10th anniversary of his election, Vatican News reports.
The Patriarch recalled the gestures of friendship Pope Francis has made towards Armenia. The Patriarch emphasized, in particular, his visit to the country, his proclamation of the Armenian Saint Gregory of Narek as a Doctor of the Church, and his remembrance of the victims of the Armenian genocide.
The ten years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, he said, “have been ten years in which the Armenian people – not just Catholics, but Orthodox and Protestants too – have felt closer to the heart of the successor of Peter.”
The Holy Father’s visit to Armenia in 2016, Patriarch Minassian said, was thus “pastoral and ecumenical at the same time.”
