VATICAN, May 23, 2016 (CNA) The press office of the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsayan, announced the motto and official logo for Pope Francis' visit to the country June 24-26, 2016.
The official motto is “Visit to the first Christian Nation.”
The logo consists of a circle half violet and half yellow which reflects the official colors of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church, and also includes the coat of arms of both churches.
The logo also depicts Mount Ararat, the place according to the book of Genesis served as a port after the universal flood (Armenian and Jewish traditions thus determined it); and the Khor Virap monastery, built by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, founder and patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Freed after 14 years of imprisonment, he joined forces with King Tiridates III and Christianity was declared the state religion in Armenia
Armenia was the first nation in the world to proclaim itself Christian in 301 A.D. and suffered different invasions throughout its history. In 1990 it proclaimed its independence, after separating from the Soviet Union.
Between 1915 and 1923 more than 1.5 million Armenians were massacred at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which is known as the Armenian genocide.
In April 2015, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the massacre, the pope recognized this genocide and lamented that “today too we hear the muffled and forgotten cry of so many of our defenseless brothers and sisters who, on account of their faith in Christ or their ethnic origin, are publicly and ruthlessly put to death.”
Last May 13, the press office of the Holy See announced Pope Francis' program of activities for his apostolic trip to that country.
