Travels to Kazakhstan and Armenia (Vatican).

Vatican--John Paul II will visit the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan September 20-25, followed by a visit to Armenia September 25-27, to celebrate the country's l700th anniversary of Christianity.

Kazakhstan

The Church in Kazakhstan is new. Osiornoe, which in Russian means "place of the lake," was a deserted stretch of steppe when Catholics from western Ukraine-German, Polish and Ukrainians-were deported there by Stalin in 1936.

The deportees, who arrived in closed cattle wagons, had to face winter temperatures of 40 below zero. They managed to build a kolkhoz, or collective farm, in the treeless region. Their kolkhoz eventually joined with another, known as Vanguard.

For the next 18 years, until Stalin's death in 1954, Vanguard residents were forbidden to leave the area. In the winter of 1941, when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, and resources were diverted to the front, many Vanguard residents died of hunger. Then, on March 25 of that year, on the feast of the Annunciation, an unusual thaw occurred, and a great lake full of fish emerged. The resulting catches were God's providence, residents believed. Further starvation was averted.

In the early years in Kazakhstan, the settlers lacked a priest but they kept the faith alive by praying the rosary a lot. In later years, priests were able to come to the area and work occasionally, and in secret. Then on August 22, 1990, Father Thomasz Peta arrived from Poland, on the feast of Our Lady, Queen and Mother. The previous month, with Moscow's permission, the residents had begun to build a church, which in 1992 was blessed by Cardinal Jozef Glemp, Primate of Poland.

Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991. Four years later, the Church of Osiornoe became the Shrine of Kazakhstan, consecrated to Mary, Queen of Peace. A statue was erected to Our Lady in 1997, surrounded by fish, in memory of the 1941 phenomenon, and the following year a 12-metre cross was placed at the top of a nearby hill. In 1999, John Paul II made Father Peta a bishop and appointed him apostolic administrator of Astana, for Latin-rite Catholics in Kazakhstan.

The country has 16.7 million inhabitants, and has borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea. About half the population is Muslim; 44% is Russian Orthodox. Catholics comprise about 300,000, or 1.8% of the population.

Armenia

The Holy Father will travel to Yerevan, the Armenian capital, where he will arrive immediately after the consecration of the new Cathedral of St. Gregory, scheduled for September 23.

During the Jubilee Year of 2000, in a solemn ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope offered Patriarch Karekin lithe relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator which will be exposed for veneration by the faithful in the crypt of the new cathedral. The relics had been kept in a Naples monastery. John Paul II was unable to visit Armenia in 1999, as he had planned, because Patriarch Karekin I fell gravely ill.

With the 1700th anniversary in mind, the Holy Father in a message last February referred to the "history of suffering" of the Armenian people, which has had as a constant feature "the component of martyrdom." It is a history, he stated, characterized by "fidelity and courage," especially during the "many years of the totalitarian regime."

At the time, the Pope was encouraging the Armenian Catholic Church to "offer its decisive contribution" in order to "continue with vigour on the path of the ecumenical dialogue." On that occasion, John Paul II presided over the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Patriarch Nerses Betros XIX of Cilicia of Catholic Armenians.

Religious history

The conversion of Armenia came through the ministry of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Armenia was the first nation to embrace Christianity officially. Only in 313 did Constantine issue the Edict of Milan, which gave Christians the freedom to practise their religion throughout the Roman Empire.

St. Gregory's life foreshadowed the persecution of the Armenian Church down the ages. Because of his Christian faith, he spent 13 years imprisoned in a dark pit, the dungeon of Khow Virab, the dungeon of the doomed, not much more than 10 feet square at the bottom of a 6-metre-deep shaft, by command of King Tiradates. Only after this cruel suffering was St. Gregory able to bear public witness to his baptismal faith and preach the Gospel.

According to tradition, an angel appeared and told Gregory he would eventually be safe. In 301 Tiradates was spurned by a Christian virgin. He killed her and 36 virgin friends and then went insane. However, his sister had a dream that he would be cured if Gregory was released. Gregory was then set free, cured Tiradates, and converted him to Christianity, which became the state religion. Despite his sufferings, Gregory rejected bitterness, and took up the way of purity by preaching the life-giving word of God. He became Armenia's first bishop.

That year he had a vision in which Christ appeared in a village near Armenia's current capital, Yerevan, and struck the ground with a golden hammer. It was holy Etchmiadzin near Mt. Ararat. A great cathedral appeared. Gregory ordered one built there. Seventeen centuries later it is the seat of the Armenian Church.

Gregory's life foreshadowed the path of suffering that has marked the history of the Armenian Church. In 390 Armenia became divided between the Byzantine and Persian Empires, and in 430 the monarchy disappeared. Since then the Armenians have been subject to Persians, Arabs, Turks, and Russians, and their unity has consisted in the bond of race, language, literature and religion. The Armenians have suffered persecution intermittently throughout their history. But a large part of the whole nation was massacred by the Turks in 1915. Such wars and upheavals have forced Armenians to leave their country and settle in Lebanon, Syria, Europe and America.

During the centuries of persecution by Persians and Arabs, from the end of the 9th century to the middle of the 11th century, there was an independent kingdom of Bagratids. The medieval kingdom of Cilicia or Little Armenia existed as an independent kingdom from the 12th century to 1375. During this period of independence, the Armenians of Little Armenia were united with the Holy See. They adopted many practices from contact with the West. Armenia sent representatives to the Council of Florence (1438-39), which issued the famous instruction for the Armenians.

The present organization of the Church consists of the Patriarchate of Etchmiadzin (the Patriarch is the head of the Armenian Church), the Catholicate of Sis, and the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople. There are about two and a half million Armenians. About 160,000 of these are in communion with the Holy See.

To mark the 1700th anniversary of the conversion of Armenia, the Holy Father sent three segments of the precious relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, one to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians; one to His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia; one to His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, Patriarch of Cilicia for Armenian Catholics. The Holy Father sees in the sharing of the relics a strong encouragement to unity in Christ.

(L'Osservatore Romano, June 6, 2001)