His Holiness Karekin II Leads Armenian Church Delegation at Funeral of Pope John Paul II
12.04.2005
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, accompanied by an official delegation of the government of the Republic of Armenia, arrived in Rome on April 7 to participate in the funeral rites for His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the 264th successor to the Apostolic See of St. Peter.
At Ciampino Airport, the Pontiff of All Armenians was met by a special commission of high-ranking Vatican officials and Rev. Fr. Aren Shahinian, parish priest for the Italian Armenian Apostolic community.
From the airport, His Holiness was escorted to the Vatican and St. Peter's Cathedral, where he offered his prayers up to heaven standing before the body of John Paul II, lying in state.
On the morning of April 8, Holy Mass commenced in St. Peter's Cathedral. According to the traditions of the Catholic Church, 164 cardinals simultaneously celebrated the three-hour long mass. His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals, presided during the funeral services for the Roman Pontiff.
Present for the services were 70 heads of state, delegations from nearly 200 countries, and leaders and representatives of sister Churches, including Ecumenical Patriarch His Holiness Bartholomew II; Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch His Holiness Abba Paulos; Archbishop of Athens and Greece His Beatitude Christodoulos; and Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Kyrill, among others.
Following the funeral services, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger greeted the Ecumenical delegations which had arrived in the Vatican from throughout the world.
Representing the Armenian Church at the funeral of His Holiness John Paul II were: His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern); His Grace Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Director for Inter-Church Relations of the Catholicosate of Cilicia; Rev. Fr. Aren Shahinian, parish priest of Italy; and Rev. Fr. Geghard Vahuni, Staff-bearer of the Catholicos of All Armenians.
His Holiness Karekin II returned to the Mother See on April 9.
