VATICAN CITY, Rome - Presiding together at the Vatican's Patriarchal Basilica of St. Peter, His Holiness John Paul II, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, both delivered homilies during a special liturgical celebration on November 10, at the close of which the Relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator were transferred to the Armenian Church.

After the scripture readings, the Pope spoke briefly in Italian, introducing the Catholicos of All Armenians and inviting him to speak. Next, Catholicos Karekin II delivered his homily in Armenian; the Pope then followed with a homily in Italian.

Authorized English translations of both Catholicos Karekin II's and Pope John Paul II's remarks appear below. (The translation from Armenian appears courtesy of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; the translation from Italian appears courtesy of the Vatican's news service.)

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II
Blessed is God, who has guided our efforts to reach out to sister churches in this year marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the first year of our reign as Catholicos of All Armenians. In embracing our spiritual brethren, we renew and reinforce the centuries-old ties and cooperation between us. With a grateful heart we offer prayers of thanksgiving to the Almighty, as we exchange with the head of the Roman Catholic Church the love and reverence we share in Christ.

Your Holiness, our heart abounds with joy on this occasion. Our visit to Rome has been greeted with an unparalleled display of welcome, crowned by brotherly love. From the hand of Your Holiness, the worthy and wise successor of the Holy Apostle Peter, we, the successor of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus and the Apostle-like St. Gregory the Illuminator, gratefully receive the relic of the latter, who is considered the Second Enlightener of the Armenian people and a great saint of the holy universal Church. This event is indeed a joyous milestone in the life of all Armenians living in the homeland and throughout the Diaspora. Today, the Roman Catholic Church has presented a priceless treasure to the Armenians, to acknowledge the 1700th anniversary of the declaration of Christianity as the national religion of Armenia.

Joining us in this holy cathedral today are a number of our children, who have come to Rome from twelve countries on five continents; their presence bears witness to the joy and exultation of our entire people. Their prayers, along with those of our clergymen and those of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, intermingle under these hallowed arches to beseech the intercession of the Holy Enlightener and father of our faith -- that great saint whom you call Gregory the Armenian. These prayers raise an immaterial edifice, which "grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph 2:21) through our love and faith in Christ. It is a cathedral of light, built not by mortal hands, among whose architects is St. Gregory the Illuminator, the great confessor of Christ, preeminent lawgiver of the Armenian nation, and our first catholicos.

Seventeen hundred years ago, St. Gregory emerged from his unjust imprisonment. He had previously endured unspeakable torture, and had been subject to thirteen years' confinement in Khor Virab, the dungeon of the doomed. But by the will of God he was released. Despite his sufferings he rejected bitterness, and took up the way of purity by resuming his preaching of the life-giving word of God. The Light of the Gospel intensified in the land of the Armenians, resulting in the miraculous conversion of our people.

Later, through St. Gregory's visionary eyes, our nation witnessed the Risen Savior, clad in light, descending from the unreachable heavens to smite the soil of our homeland. The power of St. Gregory's faith transformed the character and meaning of our national life. Since that time -- and unto the ages of ages -- that faith has borne the seal of Christ, and is anchored in Holy Etchmiadzin, which rose from the earth at the descent of the Only Begotten. In the fitting words of the historian Arakel Davrijetsi: "The entire Armenian nation is attached to the Hand of St. Gregory [i.e. his relic] and Holy Etchmiadzin" (ch. xvii).

St. Gregory, the shepherd who dedicated his life unsparingly to the Armenian people, has never left his flock. When we were beset by wolves, or scattered across the world, or taken into captivity by unholy usurpers; as we stand at the crossroads of history, or lie in our eternal rest -- he has been with us, sharing our tribulations.

In the name of our people, we express our thanks and appreciation to His Eminence Michele Giordano, the Cardinal of Naples, and to the devoted sisters of the Monastery of St. Gregory, who have reverently protected the relics as well as the instruments that tortured the great confessor of Christ. For five centuries, these relics have attracted thousands of pilgrims to the Monastery of St. Gregory, thus perpetuating the inspirational and mysterious mission of a saint who dedicated his life to God.

Today, our holy Illuminator returns to his people, to rejoice with them in the atmosphere of freedom and independence, and to bestow his blessings on the land of Ararat by means of his illustrious relics. Like other Christians, our people have had a long history of zealously venerating the relics of saints -- to the surprise and discouragement of enemies who would force us to deny the truth of Christianity. Though others have tried to strip us of our faith, Christianity is not a garment to be worn and tossed away, but is to our people the very hue and texture of our skin. Attempts to change such things can only be vain, and Armenians have been willing to prove this -- even at the cost of their own martyrdom.

Likewise with Christ beside us, fortified by the sacraments of the church and the relics of the saints, we have stood our ground on the saving road of the Cross, defending the embattled citadel of Christendom in the East.

Even so, today our people are deprived of many relics and holy shrines located in the vestiges of historic Armenia, which still attest to the Christian presence in those lands, and which have been sanctified by the sweat and blood of the Armenian people. Most of the Armenians present here are the offspring of the remnant of our people that survived the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Having been deported from their historic homeland, after wandering from place to place, they finally settled in the various countries of the world and established the present-day Armenian Diaspora. The people in our entourage are descendants of those who sought refuge from the Genocide; today they are upright and devoted citizens of their respective countries, and enjoy the respect and trust of their adoptive and beloved homelands. The fact that Ottoman Turkey perpetrated the Armenian Genocide is well known to the clergy of the Western churches, who followed the philanthropic example of Christ and stretched out their hands to assist our afflicted people. Consequently, we harbor a deep sense of gratitude to all those who rendered support to us in those terrible days. This feeling will never be extinguished from our hearts; nor will the affection we feel towards others who came to our aid during the Genocide, and during the earthquake of Spitak, the tribulations associated with our transition to independence, and the Karabagh movement. The Roman Catholic Church, too, has not remained aloof from our distress in recent times. Indeed, Your Holiness's comforting and encouraging words spoken on numerous occasions still ring in our ears.

Your Holiness: In pursuing the relationship between our two churches, we feel your spirit of brotherly love towards the Armenian Church and people.

Several years ago, in yet another loving gesture, you dispatched to the Armenian Apostolic Church the relics of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew, co-worker with St. Thaddeus in the task of evangelizing the Armenian people. Your visits and those of your predecessor, Pope Paul VI, to the countries of the Near East and to several Armenian churches have been a great comfort to our people. We were especially grateful during your visit to the Holy Land this past spring, when you chose the hallowed ground of the Sts. James Armenian Cathedral as the site to offer your prayer to our Savior. Last year our people prepared with great enthusiasm and affection to welcome Your Holiness to our homeland of Armenia, where freedom is now being pursued under the gaze of Mount Ararat. Alas, the health of the blessed Catholicos Karekin I reached a crisis, and your visit could not go forward at that time. But our hope to play host to Your Holiness remains strong, and our people look forward to celebrating the 1700th Jubilee of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Your comforting presence.

We thankfully repeat our invitation to you on this momentous occasion of our meeting and your presentation of the Relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator to the Armenian Church. And we beseech the Lord that Your Holiness as well as all the spiritual leaders of the Christian churches will pray for the intercession of the Holy Illuminator, so that our holy faith may be renewed in the Armenia of today as it was in the Armenia of 1700 years ago.

We pray that the holy saints will intercede with our Heavenly Father, so that He may bless our encounter and guide us in our duties, for the sake of His glory and for the well-being of our faithful churches. Amen.

HOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11).

1. In the year 2001, the Armenian Church will celebrate the seventeenth centenary of the Baptism of Armenia through the ministry of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. Following the Good Shepherd, Saint Gregory laid down his life for his sheep. Because of his Christian faith, he spent many years imprisoned in a dark pit by command of King Tiridates. Only after this cruel suffering was Gregory free once again to bear public witness to his baptismal vocation in all its fullness and proclaim the Gospel to the men and women of his time. The life of Saint Gregory foreshadowed the journey of the Armenian Church through the ages. How often has the Armenian Church been cast into the dark pit of persecution, violence and oblivion! How often have her children in their prison darkness echoed the words of the Prophet Micah: "But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy! When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light" (7:7-8). And this not only in the distant past; the twentieth century too has been one of the most tormented in the history of the Armenian Church, which suffered terrible hardships of every kind. Now, thank God, there are clear signs of a new springtime.

2. In today's celebration, I am delighted to return to Your Holiness a relic of Saint Gregory the Illuminator which has been kept in the Convent of Saint Gregory the Armenian in Naples, and venerated there for many centuries.

The relic will be placed in the new Cathedral now being built in Yerevan as a symbol of hope and of the Church's mission in Armenia after so many years of oppression and silence. A place in the heart of a fast-growing city in which to praise God, to listen to Sacred Scripture and to celebrate the Eucharist will be an essential factor of evangelization. I pray that the Holy Spirit will fill that sacred place with his loving presence, glorious light and sanctifying grace. My hope is that the new Cathedral will adorn with still greater beauty the Bride of Christ in Armenia, where the People of God have lived for centuries in the shadow of Mount Ararat. Through the intercession of the Mother of God and Saint Gregory the Illuminator, may the Armenian faithful draw new courage and confidence from their Cathedral. And may the pilgrims coming from far and wide experience the power of God's light radiating from that holy shrine as they continue their journey of faith. 3. In the Cathedral of Yerevan, as in all others, there will be the Altar of the Eucharist and the Patriarchal Chair. The Chair and the Altar speak of the communion which already exists between us. As the Second Vatican Council declared, "all know the love with which Christians of the East celebrate the Sacred Liturgy, especially the Eucharist, wellspring of the Church's life and pledge of future glory, in which the faithful united with the Bishop have access to God the Father through the Son, the Word Incarnate who died and was glorified, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit". The Council Fathers went on to say that the Eastern Churches, "however separated they may be, have true Sacraments and above all, by virtue of the Apostolic Succession, the Priesthood and the Eucharist, by means of which they remain united with us by the closest bonds" (Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 15). Through history there have been many contacts between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church; and there have been various attempts to restore full communion. Now we must pray and work fervently that the day will soon come when our Sees and the Bishops will be in full communion once more, when we can celebrate together, at the same Altar, the Eucharist as the supreme sign and source of unity in Christ. Until that day dawns, each of our Eucharistic celebrations will suffer the absence of the brother who is not yet there. 4. Dear and venerable Brother in Christ, Saint Paul speaks to us in the words we have heard from the Acts of the Apostles: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which he acquired with his own blood" (20:28). Ours is a great responsibility. Christ has entrusted to our pastoral care that which is most precious to him on earth: "the Church which he acquired with his own blood".

I beg the Lord, through the intercession of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, to pour out his abundant blessings upon you, my Brothers in the Episcopate, and upon all the Pastors of the Apostolic Armenian Church. May the Spirit inspire and guide you in your pastoral ministry to the Armenian people, both in the land of your birth and throughout the world. To your fraternal prayer I entrust my own ministry as Bishop of Rome: that I may be able to exercise this ministry more and more as "a service of love recognized by all concerned" (Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint, 95), so that all will at last be one (cf. Jn 17:21).

5. Let me conclude with the fervent plea which I made to the Mother of God thirteen years ago, during the Marian Year, and which rises from my heart again today:
"O holy Mother of God, ... look upon the land of Armenia, upon its mountains, where a countless host of holy and learned monks have lived; look upon its churches, upon the rocks which rise from rocks, filled with the radiance of the Trinity; look upon the stone crosses, memorials of your Son, whose Passion continues in the suffering of the martyrs. Watch over the sons and daughters of Armenia throughout the world... Inspire the desires and hopes of the young, that they may remain always proud of their origins. Grant that, wherever they may go, they will listen to their Armenian heart, for in those depths there will always be a prayer to their Lord and a sense of surrender to you who cover them with your mantle of refuge. O most sweet Virgin, O Mother of Christ and Mother of us all, Mary" (Homily, Divine Liturgy in the Armenian Rite, 21 November 1987). Amen.