President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian’s official visit to the Holy See began with personal talks with Pope Francis this morning.

As reported the Staff of the President of Armenia, the head of state thanked Pope Francis for the high-level and constructive dialogue between Armenia and the Holy See. “As the first Ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See, it gives me great spiritual satisfaction and honor to return to the Apostolic Palace,” Sarkissian said, noting that he remembers with pride and warmth the “Armenia-Rome: Relations of Two Thousand Years” exhibition that opened in the Library of the Vatican in March 1999 within the scope of the celebration dedicated to the 1,700th anniversary of declaration of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia.

President Sarkissian said the year 2021 is a special year for Armenia-Vatican relations, taking into consideration the 20th anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul to Armenia and the 5th anniversary of the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia, adding that the historic visits will always remain in the hearts and minds of the Armenians and emphasizing Pope Francis’ fundamental position on the Armenian Genocide.

The head of state mentioned, with gratitude, that the Vatican extended a hand of solidarity to the Armenia and the Armenian people in the current stage of difficult challenges, adding that the best evidence of this are the message for peace that Pope Francis made during and after the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), as well as the call for the release of Armenian prisoners of war.

Sarkissian stated that the Artsakh issue is a matter of human rights, as well as a demand for the Armenian people to live and create in their ancient Christian cradle and exercise their inviolable right to self-determination.