Literary critic Davit Gasparyan, in an interview with Aravot.am said that he is greatly impressed by the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia, “It was just glorious, Pope voiced Charents and Nerses the Graceful, and directed the attention of the mind of the whole world on us … His visit to Khor Virap was also very important for Gregory Illuminator lived like a hermit in Khor Virap,” – said Mr. Gasparyan.
He also recalled how on April 12, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy commemorating the 100 years of the Armenian Genocide offered at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the Pope proclaimed St. Gregory of Narek the Doctor of the Universal Church. “We constantly say that we are the first people who declared Christianity a state religion and these words remain only in us. Whereas the words of the Pope, I think, will have its reaction in the whole world,” – said the literary critic with confidence. In his words, the Pope as a genuine symbol of modesty and forbearances is a symbol of exemplary living in today’s philistine life. It is another matter whether our people will follow his example or not. Davit Gasparyan recalled one more episode, “There was a time when the press used to write that the Pope had entered an optical store not to buy new glasses for him but to give his old glasses to repair.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
