PATRIARCH VISITS THE CHURCH OF ST PANTALEON

St. Pantaleon Church, Köln

His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, accompanied by the Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan, Bernd Mussinghoff and Jaisy Manthuruthil paid a special visit, on Sunday, 21 August 2005, at 18:00 hours to Saint Pantaleon, one of the 12 Roman churches in Cologne (http://www.pantaleon-koeln.de/; http://www.romanische-kirchen.de/).

The Revd. Dr. Peter von Steinitz

Patriarch Mesrob was warmly welcomed at the entrance of the church by the Pastor, the Revd. Dr. Peter von Steinitz, an old friend who had hosted Patriarch Karekin II of blessed memory, and a number of other Armenian bishops, in the guesthouse of St. Pantaleon, in January 1993, on the occasion of the enthronement of His Grace Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian as Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany. Father Peter von Steinitz is also a member of the Commission for Ecumenism of the Archdiocese of Cologne.

Mosaic depicting Empress Theophanu

The Patriarch first entered the Church of Saint Pantaleon (for the life of the Saint, see http://www.westernorthodox.com/kalendar/0727.htm), and venerated the relics of Empress Theophanu (see http://www.kts-koeln.de/english/theophan.htm), praying for the repose of her soul. Theophanu was  the daughter of an Armenian general. She was married to Emperor Otto II, gave birth to Otto III and eventually died as the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire on the German throne.

Fr. Drtad Uzunyan, Patriarch Mesrob, Fr. Peter von Steinitz, Bernd Mussinghoff

Pastor Peter von Steinitz then invited Patriarch Mesrob and his friends to his Rectory in order to celebrate the success of the World Youth Day events. Father Peter von Steinitz also presented the Patriarch with three books:  Pantaleon der Arzt, by Peter von Steinitz, Köln: Freundeskreis St. Pantaleon e.V., 2004 (a 268-page novel written on the occasion of 1700th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Saint); Theophanu: Regierende Kaiserin des Westreichs, ed. by Peter von Steinitz, Pantaleonsschriften, Köln: Freundeskreis St. Pantaleon e.V., 2000 (84 pages with articles by Moses Sotiriades, Petra May, Peter von Steinitz and Andreas Schmitt); St. Pantaleon, Theophanu und Köln – Ausgewaehlte Vortraege, ed. by Georg Moelich, Köln: Freundeskreis St. Pantaleon e.V., 2002 (134 pages with articles by Karl Josef Baum, Helmuth Kluger, Roland Moenig, Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, Wolfgang Rosen and Barbara Rinn).

Patriarch Mesrob thanked Father Peter von Steinitz for his warm hospitality, for the books and especially for the invitation to attend the most moving Liturgy of the Word with the seminarians on Friday, 19 August, when he had the chance to pray and to exchange greetings with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVII.