The papal envoy goes to Armenia in the aftermath of the war that lasted 44 days

A papal envoy traveled to Armenia last week to speak with civilian and Christian leaders in the aftermath of the country's 44-day war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Archbishop José Bettencourt, papal nuncio to Georgia and Armenia, who resides in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, visited Armenia from 5 to 9 December.
Upon his return, the nuncio expressed concern that much remains unsolved a month after the Russian-mediated ceasefire negotiations and called for the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh's Christian cultural heritage.

“The 'ceasefire' signed on 10 November is only the beginning of a peace agreement, which is proving difficult and precarious for all that remains unsolved on the ground of negotiations. The international community is certainly called to play a leading role, ”Bettencourt said in an interview with ACI Stampa, CNA's Italian-language journalistic partner.

The nuncio pointed to the role of the "Minsk Group" of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - a group led by representatives of the United States, France and Russia - as fundamental to mediate "compromises with lowering tension "By diplomatic means.

During his trip to Armenia, the papal diplomat met with Armenian President Armen Sargsyan for almost an hour. He also found time to meet the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, to "convey hope" and the pope's solidarity.

“After the celebration of Holy Mass in the Armenian Catholic cathedral of Gyumri, I had the opportunity to meet some families who fled from the war regions. I saw on their faces the pain of fathers and mothers who struggle every day to give a future of hope to their children. There were seniors and children, several generations united by a tragedy, ”Bettencourt said.

According to the Armenian foreign minister, some 90.000 people fled their homes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region amid missile and drone attacks during the six-week conflict. Since the ceasefire was agreed on November 10, some have returned to their homes, but many others have not.

The papal nuncio visited the Missionaries of Charity who take care of some of these refugees in Spitak and visited a Catholic hospital in Ashotsk, in northern Armenia.

According to Archbishop Minassian, there are currently at least 6.000 orphaned children who have lost one of their parents during the conflict. The Catholic community of Gyumri alone and the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception have welcomed a large number of families, guaranteeing them shelter and the necessary for daily life, ”he said.

"I have heard bloody and cruel religious stories of violence and hatred," he added.

While in Armenia, Bettencourt met the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II.

“I met the Patriarch and I immediately felt the suffering of the pastor,” he said. "It is a profound suffering, palpable even in the physical features of the patriarch, which is difficult for a non-Armenian to fully understand".

As nuncio to Armenia, Bettencourt said he used to travel to the country once or twice a month, but had not been able to visit the country since March due to the closure of the border between Georgia and Armenia due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was a great sacrifice for me not to be able to meet these brothers in the last few months, but I was absolutely unable to do so,” he said.

"On the first occasion I had, therefore, I went to Armenia, especially in the aftermath of the end of the armed hostilities, to bring greetings and solidarity from the Holy Father".

Bettencourt's trip coincided with a visit to the Vatican by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, delegate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, where he met with officials of the Pontifical Council for Culture last week to talk about the conservation of Christian heritage in Artsakh.

Artsakh is the ancient historical name of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. The area is recognized by the United Nations as belonging to Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim country, but is administered by ethnic Armenians, who mostly belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the six autocephalous churches of the Eastern Orthodox Communion.

Armenia, which has a population of nearly three million, borders Georgia, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Iran and Turkey. He is proud to have been the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in the year 301. The disputed territory has had an Armenian identity for millennia and with it a rich Christian history.

The largely Muslim composition of Azerbaijan and the history of Armenian Christianity is a factor in the conflict. The dispute over the territory has been ongoing since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a war being fought in the region in 1988-1994.

The papal nuncio said that the Holy See hopes that all parties involved will do everything possible to preserve and safeguard the "incomparable artistic and cultural heritage" of Nagorno-Karabakh, which belongs "not only to one nation, but to the whole humanity ”And it is under the protection of UNESCO, the educational, scientific and cultural agency of the United Nations.

“Beyond the service of charity, the Catholic Church above all wants to transmit hope to these peoples. During the 44 days of conflict, the Holy Father personally launched a heartfelt appeal four times for peace in the Caucasus and invited the universal Church to ask the Lord for the longed-for gift of ending the conflicts, ”said Bettencourt.