Ecumenical prayer in memory of Saint Gregory of Narek

On Friday, 27 February, the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches and the Representation of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Holy See (Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin) organised an ecumenical celebration at the Vatican to mark the liturgical memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, in the Roman General Calendar.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian led Vespers according to the Armenian liturgy in the Chapel of the Choir of St Peter's Basilica. During the service, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, offered a reflection.

Many Armenian faithful and ecumenical representatives in Rome attended the prayer, which was accompanied by chants performed by the Mekhitarist Fathers of the San Lazzaro Monastery in Venice, as well as by seminarians from the Pontifical Armenian College. This was followed by a screening of the documentary film Narekatsi in the Vatican Filmoteca.