Pope Francis at Mass in Gyumri: memory, faith, mercy
(Vatican Radio) Pope
Francis celebrated Mass in Vartanàns Square in Gyumri,Armenia,
on Saturday morning, with the Ordinary of Eastern Europe for Armenian
Catholics, Archbishop Raphael Minassian, and in the presence of the Catholicos of
all Armenians, Karekin II.
The second city of Armenia,
Gyumri is known both as an industrial center and a major cultural hub. It was
also badly damaged in the massive 1988 earthquake that killed tens of thousands
of people.
Catholicos Karekin welcomed
the Holy Father warmly, explaining, “Gyumri is one of those historical towns of
Armenia where centuries-old Armenican Christian values have flourished,” and
introducing the people of Gyumri as, “bearers of a beautiful tradition of
Christian brotherly coexistence.”
In his homily, the Holy Father recalled the devastation, giving
thanks “for all that has been rebuilt,” and focused on three “stable
foundations” on which to build the moral and spiritual future of the nation:
memory, faith, and merciful love.
The first foundation, he
said, is “memory:” to “recall what the Lord has done in and for us” and that
“He has chosen us, loved us, called us and forgiven us.” “The memory of a
people” like those in Armenia, also needs to be preserved the Pope added.
“Even in the face of tremendous adversity,” he stressed, God has “remembered
your faithfulness to the Gospel, the first-fruits of your faith, and all those
who testified, even at the price of their blood, that God’s love is more
precious than life itself.”
Faith, the Holy Father said,
is the second foundation on which to build Christian life. But, he warned,
“there is always a danger that can dim the light of faith and that is the
temptation to reduce it to something from the past, something important but
belonging to another age…to be kept in a museum.”
The third foundation, the
Pope added, “is merciful love:” “We are called above all to build and
rebuild paths of communion, tirelessly creating bridges of unity and working to
overcome our divisions.”
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