PanARMENIAN.Net - The Orthodox Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian arrived on Friday, January 18 noon at Manger Square in Bethlehem, marking Palestine’s Armenian Christians’ celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany, WAFA reports.
Manougian’s procession left from the Armenian Patriarchate, located in the Old City of Jerusalem, and made its way to Manger Square.
Followed by Armenian clergy and the faithful, the procession, stopped at Mar Elias Monastery on the way to Bethlehem, where Manougian was welcomed by the deputy mayor of Bethlehem, the mayors of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.
It then proceeded to Bethlehem via an Israeli military-controlled metal gate in the concrete wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
Upon reaching Bethlehem, the primate of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was greeted by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rola Maayaa, Bethlehem Governor Kamel Hmeid, Mayor Anton Salman and other officials.
The Patriarch was also greeted upon his arrival by notables of the Armenian community before making a solemn entry into the Basilica and Grotto of the Nativity and ...