Karekin II to head Etchmiadzin delegation at Pope's inauguration

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II will head the Armenian delegation at the inauguration ceremony of newly elected Pope of Rome Francis. The Director of the Publishing Department of the Mother See Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, the Head of Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, and Fr. Anania Tzaturyan are included in the delegation. The Press Service of the Mother See informed "Armenpress" about this.

The Pope's inauguration ceremony will be held on March 19.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault are among key European leaders expected to attend the ceremony, along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barosso, US Vice President Joe Biden, a practising Catholic, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, and many other world leaders.