On April 26, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, received His Excellency Valdas Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania. President Adamkus was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Alma Adamkiene and Mr. Davit Harutyunian, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia.
His Holiness welcomed the visit of the Lithuanian president to the headquarters of the Armenian Church and introduced the history and mission of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in the lives of the Armenian people.
"We offer praise and thanks to God, that the years of oppressive Soviet rule were not able to destroy the spiritual life of our nation, nor their spirit and love of Christ. With their Christian faith, the sons and daughters of our nation reinforced their convictions of liberty and independence, and fifteen years ago, created our new, free and sovereign republic." - stated His Holiness.
The Pontiff of All Armenians offered a prayer to the Lord to preserve and protect the Armenian and Lithuanian peoples; strengthen their brotherhood and solidarity; and increase the cooperation and collaboration between the two states. His Holiness further expressed the gratitude of the Armenian people for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by the Lithuanian government, as well as the careful attention of the Lithuanian authorities toward the Armenians living in their land.
President Adamkus thanked His Holiness for the warm reception and expressed his deep respect and esteem for the Armenian Church and her leader. The president spoke of the significant role the Church has in society, specifically in establishing and encouraging the proper development of morals and ethics in the younger generation. "Through your history, one sees how much Christianity gave to Armenia through your Church. Your culture, language, literature and art accompanied the Christian faith and teachings as inseparable parts of the Armenian identity." - stated the Lithuanian president.
The meeting concluded with a discussion on the current state of worldwide ecumenical relations, within both inter-church and inter-faith dimensions. Present for the meeting were His Eminence Archbishop Barkev Martirosian, Primate of the Diocese Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh); His Grace Bishop Paren Avedikian, Director of Administrative Matters for the Mother See; and His Grace Bishop Arshak Khatchatrian, Chancellor of the Mother See.
At the conclusion of the cordial meeting, President and Mrs. Adamkus visited the museum of the Pontifical Residence and the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.
27.04.2006
