YEREVAN. - The representative of the U.S. Peace Corps Jim Daley has prepared a special gift for Pope Francis: small graduation flags of Armenia, U.S. and the Peace Corps.

“I will see him tomorrow at the orphanage in Gyumri and I am looking forward to meeting him. He is a wonderful man. I am very happy to be here, in the first Christian country,” he told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

According to the representative of the Order of the Armenian Catholic Sisters, Diana Yerevanian, the Pope’s visit will open many doors for the Armenian people. “I think it’s an honor that he wants to visit Armenia,” she said.

Brother Eloi, who has arrived in Armenia from France specially for meeting the Pope, stressed that the Armenian Genocide did take place. Responding to the question as to whether the Pope’s visit to Armenia can put pressure on the U.S. in terms of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, he noted: “I hope so. The German parliament did that a month ago. My country did that back during the term of Jacques Chirac. This is very important in the context of the situation we are witnessing in Syria.  I hope the Pope’s visit will become a message for the whole world to wake up and stop such actions.”

The representative of the Armenian community of Argentina, Vardivar Manukian, said that Pope Francis must come up with proposals so that the war between the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples ends as soon as possible.

Pope Francis arrived in Armenia Friday. The motto of his three-day visit is “Visit to the First Christian Nation”.