"I am sure he added that this spirit of friendship will keep growing over these days". Then, the Pope mentioned the "harsh persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the last century", and said: "the many Armenian martyrs are a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit that is working in times of darkness and a promise of hope for Christians everywhere". Benedict XVI’s greeting ended with an invocation to Saint Gregory the Enlightener (whose statue is kept in an outdoor niche in the Basilica of Saint Peter’s), that he may help "make us grow in unity, in the only holy bond of Christian faith, in hope and in love".
