"Divine Liturgy (Սուրբ պատարագ) in Armenian Rite will be celebrated in Bari on March 22, 2026" by Carlo Coppola
La versione italiana di questo articolo si trova sul giornale "In città Giovinazzo" diretto da papàs Antonio Calisi al seguente link:
2026 թվականի մարտի 22-ին Բարիում կմատուցվի հայկական ծեսով Սուրբ Պատարագ: Կառլո Կոպպոլայի հոդված.
On Sunday, March 22 at 10:00 a.m., the Church of San Gregorio in the historic centre of Bari will, for a few hours, become the beating heart of Armenian Christianity in Italy. Within this church, nestled among the narrow streets of the old town, the ancient chants of the Divine Liturgy according to the rite of the Armenian Apostolic Church will resound — one of the oldest liturgical traditions in the Christian world, preserved through the centuries with remarkable devotion by a people who have made faith the very foundation of their national identity.
The celebration will be presided over by Fr. Aram Tilikyan, parish priest of the Armenian Apostolic Community of Barcelona and Catalonia and Patriarchal Delegate for Western Europe. Appointed to this role on November 1, 2025, Fr. Tilikyan will arrive in Bari leading a group of Catalan pilgrims. Their presence — faithful who journey across Europe to pray in a church in southern Italy — speaks volumes about the invisible yet deeply resilient spiritual network that binds the Armenian diaspora to the sacred places of Christian tradition.
At the conclusion of the liturgy, the community will proceed to the nearby Basilica of Saint Nicholas to venerate the relics of the Saint of Myra. This gesture is rich in meaning: Saint Nicholas is venerated in both Eastern and Western traditions, and his basilica — built by the Normans in the 11th century precisely to house his relics — has long been a meeting point for pilgrims of all Christian confessions. In this sense, the Armenian pilgrimage’s stop in Bari is not merely geographical, but profoundly symbolic.
The Bari stage represents the second and final stop of a pilgrimage that began the previous day in Naples. On March 21, in the Church of San Gregorio Armeno — one of the oldest Armenian settlements in Italy, which preserves the skull of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, patron saint and apostle of Armenia — the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by His Excellency Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Holy See and a prominent voice in international ecumenical dialogue. Two cities — Naples and Bari —historically linked to both the Kingdom of Spain and medieval Catalonia; two great ecumenical saints — Nicholas and Gregory; one single pilgrimage: an itinerary that traces across the map of Italy a centuries-old Armenian devotional route, today more vibrant than ever.
This is not the first time Bari has served as a stage for such encounters. A port city on the Mediterranean, open for centuries to commercial and spiritual routes between Europe and the East, Bari has long embodied a vocation for dialogue still reflected in its architecture: Byzantine churches, Norman palaces, and Crusader memories. The Armenian presence in this region, moreover, is far from new: Armenian merchants and pilgrims frequented the ports of Apulia as early as the Middle Ages, leaving documented traces in notarial records and local churches.
The event of March 22 is therefore also an act of historical memory, as much as a liturgical celebration. Gathering in prayer within churches that preserve shared millennial traditions—traditions that also pass through Bari—carries a significance that extends well beyond the religious sphere, particularly considering that the Armenian presence in Bari is attested from at least the 9th century.
The celebration is organised by the Armenian Apostolic Parish of Barcelona, the Pontifical Delegation of the Armenian Church for Western Europe, and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Armenia in Bari. Special thanks are extended to the Dominican Fathers of the Pontifical Basilica of Saint Nicholas — especially to Rev. Fr. Giovanni Distante, O.P., Prior of the Basilica, and Fr. Savino Somma, O.P., who serves as sacristan — for their generous hospitality.
The celebration on March 22 is open to all: the Armenian community, the faithful of every confession, and anyone who wishes to take part in this extraordinary moment of shared prayer.
Carlo Coppola
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