Pope Francis serves holy mass in Armenia’s GyumriJune 25, 2016 - 12:13 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis and the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II served a mass in Gyumri, Armenia’s second biggest city on Saturday, June 25. Local residents were waiting for the mass from early morning, while young volunteers gave out hats and scarves with the pope’s image, as well as water. Also, the attendees received brochures with the Armenian and Italian translations of the prayers. Following the mass, the pontiff is set to visit Our Lady of Armenia Convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Gyumri; the Seven Wounds St. Mary Church of the Diocese of Shirak of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and the Holy Martyrs Armenian Catholic Cathedral. In the evening, an outdoor Ecumenical Service and Peace Prayer will be held at the Republic Square in Yerevan. Earlier on Saturday, Francis visited the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan. Related links: Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |