International Orthodox Christian News

The official visit of His Holiness to the Holy See of Rome was marked by the commemoration of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. A special commemoration service was held in St. Bartholomew Church in Rome. It was attended by many people.

In his sermon His Holiness spoke about the meaning and importance of martyrs and martyrdom for the life and witness of the church. He described the martyr as the promoter of Christian values and defender of Christian faith to the extend of shading his or her blood. His Holiness then spoke about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by the Ottoman Turkish Empire which caused the death of one and half million Armenians. At the end of his sermon, His Holiness said that he has brought with him from Antelias, the Headquarters of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, a small piece of relic to be put on the altar of St. Bartholomew Church.

After the Armenian Genocide the relics of Armenian martyrs were collected by the clergy of the Armenian Church and brought to Antelias, where martyrs chapel was built, which was the first memorial monument in Armenian Diaspora dedicated to the martyrs. This moving ceremony was concluded by the song of “Cilicia”, the anthem of the Catholicosate.

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