His Holiness Karekin II Receives President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
On July 4, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, received Rene van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). This is President van der Linden’s second visit to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the first occurring in August 2005.
His Holiness welcomed the PACE president to the headquarters of the Armenian Church and reflected on their past meetings, in Armenia as well as in Astana, Kazakhstan, last year during the Second Congress of the Leaders of World Religions. Van der Linden expressed his appreciation to the Armenian Pontiff for his ongoing efforts at creating and maintaining a conducive environment and positive climate aimed at benefiting the stability and peace of the region.
The Catholicos of All Armenians and the PACE president discussed the continuing efforts directed to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict which would insure the free and secure life of the Armenians of Artsakh, the willful and deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural monuments in the region, and the status of the Armenian Church in neighboring countries.
