Armenian President awarded Vatican's highest order

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has received a Grand Collar of the Papal Order of Pius IX, which is the Vatican's highest order currently awarded, Sarkissian's office said in a press release on Friday, October 29.

Sarkissian received the honors for his contribution to the development of relations between the Holy See and Armenia, as well as for being the first Ambassador of Yerevan to the Vatican.

Pope Francis sent the Grand Collar through Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of the Holy See, who said in Yerevan on Friday that the medal is a testimony to the unique relations between the two countries.

Sarkissian is the first official in Armenia and the region to receive the Order of Pope Pius IX. The President said he was accepting the medal as "appreciation of my modest work" and pledged to make more effort to advance relations between Armenia and the Holy See.

As the Holy See and Armenia mark 30 years of diplomatic relations, a new office of the Apostolic Nunciature to Georgia and Armenia was inaugurated in the Armenian capital Yerevan on October 27. The opening of the Yerevan office represents a provisional setup in view of a wider arrangement in order to have sufficient space to adequately support the multiple commitments of the mission of the Holy See and of the Catholic Church in Armenia. For the Holy See, it is a further opportunity to look "at building a prosperous relationship for the benefit of all Armenians".