YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Spiritual leader of Armenian Catholics in Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Europe Archbishop Raphael Minasian hopes that Pope Francis’s visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan will herald peace in the region, “Armenpress” reports Archbishop Minasian told “Vatican Radio”.

Minasian stated the Pope has a heavy task to carry out. “He is obliged to work with a society where they preach liberty and they are in the situation of domination. They speak about rights and they are the people that strip the rights of human society and at the end if I were to say the word peace, they are the war makers. I am talking about presidents, kings, societies, governments, and all of these, the Holy Father has to pass by and say the reality, defend the rights, defend the liberty, and give peace to everybody. We have lost the meaning of these three words and have to rebuild again”, the Archbishop said.

The Archbishop referred to the Pope’s appeal for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan saying that although the governments are taking steps towards peace, more can be done in the direction. “There is work going on for peace, but I hope that also in the visit of his Holiness to Azerbaijan would encourage them also accept the realities because all of us in this world are passengers. No one owns anything in this Earth. So it is not useful to have these wars between people that can live peacefully and very happily.”

The Archbishop also spoke about the ancient presence of the Armenian community in Georgia mentioning that the Armenian community in Georgia can act as a bridge for peaceful relations. “In the relationship between the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches, the friendship remains as a base of all kinds of relations.”