President Serzh Sargsyan received Cardinal Leonardo Sandri

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received the Prefect for the Oriental Churches and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Oriental Institute Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

The President welcomed the guest and noted with satisfaction that cooperation between Armenia and Vatican as well as between Holy See of Etchmiadzin and Holy See of Vatican is on a high level and is being sustained by the reciprocal visits and the active political dialogue. Serzh Sargsyan asked Cardinal Leonardo Sandri to convey his best wishes to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. According to the President, a warm meeting with His Holiness held in the end of last year, provided a good opportunity to discuss the agenda and prospects of cooperation development between Armenia and Vatican.

In the President’s view, historical bilateral ties, the rich cultural and spiritual heritage are the best prerequisites for the continuous deepening of bilateral cooperation. President Sargsyan noted that Armenia and the Armenian people, who have more than millennia-long Christian traditions, are highly appreciative of Vatican’s role in spreading and enrooting Christianity in the world, as well as of its activities aimed at the preservation of peace, mutual understanding, human rights and basic freedoms.

The participants of the meeting concurred that the course of the bilateral relations is not limited to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Vatican, which is being marked this year; moreover, it is developing successfully and is deepening by year.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri conveyed to President Serzh Sargsyan, to Armenia and the Armenian people the best wishes of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. The Prefect for the Oriental Churches and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Oriental Institute noted that Armenia is the country which is striving for peace and mutual understanding with all countries of the world and through this visit he also wishes to pay respect to Armenia which manifests such desire. He underscored that Holy See is fascinated with the history of the first Christian state – Armenia, and its centuries-long devotion to its Christian roots.