His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, joined the heads of Church delegations, the diplomatic community and representatives of many foreign governments for the ceremony led by Armenian President Serzh Sargasyan and Catholicos Karekin II. Among the heads of state were Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Francois Hollande of France. A survivor of the Rwandan massacres read a declaration calling for the recognition, reparation and prevention of genocide.
Metropolitan Tikhon and the heads of delegations then met for lunch with the Armenian President. Later, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archpriest John Jillions, OCA Chancellor, and Roman Ostash met with His Holiness, Catholicos Karekin II at his residence in Etchmiadzin for official photos and the exchange of gifts and to speak about ways that relations between the OCA and the Armenian Church might be strengthened. It was noted that Armenian students have been studying at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY for decades.
