Catholic Masses

  • Search for Mass Times
  • Catholic Faith Articles
    • News Briefs
    • Catholic Church
    • Vatican News
    • Catholic Gift Ideas
  • Online Masses
    • Daily Catholic Mass Online
      • Daily TV Mass from Toronto
      • EWTN Daily Mass
      • CTVN Daily Mass
      • Sunday Mass by the Passionists
      • Daily Mass (In Spanish)
  • Pray with Us
Home Test page Papal envoy travels to Armenia in aftermath of 44-day war

Papal envoy travels to Armenia in aftermath of 44-day war

Archbishop José Bettencourt, papal nuncio to Georgia and Armenia. Credit: Joseavelinobettencourt via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Rome Newsroom, Dec 14, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A papal envoy traveled to Armenia last week to speak with civil and Christian leaders in the aftermath of the country’s 44-day war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Archbishop José Bettencourt, the papal nuncio to Georgia and Armenia, who is based in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, visited Armenia Dec. 5-9.

Upon his return, the nuncio expressed concern that much remains unresolved a month after the Russian-brokered ceasefire negotiations and appealed for the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Christian cultural heritage.

“The ‘ceasefire’ signed on Nov. 10 is only the beginning for a peace agreement, which turns out to be difficult and precarious for all that remains unresolved on the ground of negotiations. The international community is certainly called to play a leading role,” Bettencourt said in an interview with ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner.

The nuncio pointed to the role of the “Minsk Group” of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) — a group that is led by representatives from the United States, France and Russia — as critical to mediating “compromises to lower the tension” through diplomatic means.

During his trip to Armenia, the papal diplomat met with Armenian President Armen Sargsyan for nearly an hour. He also took time to meet refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, to “convey hope” and the pope’s solidarity.

“After Holy Mass was offered in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Gyumri, I had the opportunity to meet some families who had fled from the war regions. I saw on their faces the pain of fathers and mothers who struggle every day to give a future of hope to their children. There were seniors and babies, several generations united by a tragedy,” Bettencourt said.

An estimated 90,000 people fled their homes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region amid the missile and drone strikes during the six-week conflict, according to Armenia’s foreign minister. Since the ceasefire agreed on Nov. 10, some have returned to their homes, but many more have not.

The papal nuncio visited the Missionaries of Charity who care for some of these refugees in Spitak and visited a Catholic hospital in Ashotsk, northern Armenia.

“According to Archbishop Minassian, at the moment there are at least 6,000 orphaned children who have lost one of their parents during the conflict. The Catholic community of Gyumri alone and the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception welcomed a large number of families, guaranteeing them a roof and the necessities for daily life,” he said.

“I have heard from the religious bloody and cruel stories of violence and hatred,” he added.

While in Armenia, Bettencourt met with the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II.

“I met the Patriarch and I immediately felt the suffering of the pastor,” he said. “It is a profound suffering, palpable even in the physical features of the patriarch, which it is difficult for a non-Armenian to fully understand.”

As nuncio to Armenia, Bettencourt said that he used to travel to the country once or twice a month, but he had been unable to visit the country since March due to the closure of the borders between Georgia and Armenia because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was a great sacrifice for me not to be able to meet these brothers during the past months, but I was totally unable to,” he said.

“On the first occasion I had, therefore, I went to Armenia, especially in the aftermath of the end of the armed hostilities, to bring the Holy Father’s greetings and solidarity.”

Bettencourt’s trip coincided with a visit by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, a delegate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to the Vatican, where he met with officials at the Pontifical Council for Culture last week to speak about the preservation of Christian heritage in Artsakh.

Artsakh is the ancient historical name of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. The area is recognized by the United Nations as belonging to Azerbaijan, a predominately Muslim country, but is administered by ethnic Armenians, who mostly belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of six autocephalous churches of the Oriental Orthodox communion.

Armenia, which has a population of almost three million, borders Georgia, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Iran and Turkey. It prides itself on having been the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in the year 301. The disputed territory has had an Armenian identity for millennia and with that a rich Christian history.

The largely Muslim composition of Azerbaijan and the history of Armenian Christianity is a factor in the conflict. The dispute over the territory has been ongoing since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a war fought over the region in 1988-1994.

The papal nuncio said that the Holy See was hopeful that all parties involved would do everything possible to preserve and safeguard the “incomparable artistic and cultural heritage” of Nagorno-Karabakh, which belongs “not only to a nation, but to the whole of humanity” and is under the protection of UNESCO, the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency.

“Beyond the service of charity, the Catholic Church wants above all to convey hope to these peoples. The Holy Father, personally, during the 44 days of conflict raised a heartfelt appeal for peace in the Caucasus four times and invited the universal Church to ask the Lord for the longed-for gift of an end to conflicts,” Bettencourt said.


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


Catholic World Report

Dec 14, 2020CatholicMasses

Share this post:

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on PinterestShare on EmailShare on LinkedIn
Bishops in northeast Italy permit general absolution at Christmas due to pandemicTaking pride in our humility
You Might Also Like
 
18 Things to know about Howey Ou, China's only teenage climate striker
 
Western cultural suicide as apostasy

You must be logged in to post a comment. - Log in

CatholicMasses
1 year ago Armenia, Catholic News, coronavirus, Europe, News Briefs, pandemicArmenia, Catholic Church, coronavirus, Europe, News Briefs, pandemic43
Find Mass Schedules Near You

CatholicMasses.org allows you to search for Catholic Churches to find Mass times near you!

This unique feature helps while traveling.  Now along with Mass times, schedules and Catholic news you can also watch daily Catholic Mass online with your friends.

Try our free resource to “find Roman Catholic Churches near me” today!

St Alphonsus Liguori praised the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the best way to Honor God.  Join us as we celebrate Mass daily from various parishes around the world, online and offline, and please visit daily to pray with us as we recite the Rosary, offer daily scripture, readings, devotions and Catholic focused news. We bring you daily Catholic Mass from various parishes around the world and Catholic news.

Today’s Mass
Daily Mass Videos
  • Catholic Chicago
  • CatholicTVNetwork Daily Mass
  • Daily Mass from Toronto Canada
  • ETWN Daily Mass
  • Eucaristia en Vivo – Spanish Daily Mass
  • General Catholic Videos
  • Live video from Lourdes France
  • Masses from the Ascension Priests
  • Misa Hoy (en español)
  • National Shrine
  • News from a Catholic Perspective
  • News from CFN
  • Pope Francis and Vatican News
  • Rosary
  • Sunday Mass by the Passionists
What’s New
  • Britney Spears Clarifies She Asked for a Catholic Wedding: ‘I Don’t Like Being Called a Liar’
  • Meet the first Cardinal of East Timor
  • The Minimum Wage, Progressivism, and the Eucharist
  • Britney Spears clarifies she asked for a Catholic church wedding: ‘I don’t like being called a liar’
  • Catholic schools’ free lunch funds jeopardized by Biden LGBT rule change
About

Providing up to date online access to information exclusively about Catholicism.

Visit our site map | Privacy Policy | About Us Page.

Streaming Catholic Mass Online

Watch Catholic Mass Online Today.

Find Churches Nearby
Email-Subscription

Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings.

2019 © Catholic Mass Search - Search Catholic Churches and find Mass times while traveling.
Privacy Policy | About Us Page.
Truemag theme by StrictThemes
Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!