Armenian Church's Spiritual Council Meeting Fails to Convene

On November 28, a meeting of the Armenia-based members of the Supreme Spiritual Council was scheduled to be held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, presided over by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. However, it was not possible to convene a quorum for the meeting due to the absence of Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, and Bishop Gevorg Saroyan. This was reported in a statement by the Information System of the Mother See.

Nevertheless, the present members of the council made a special reference to the statement published on November 27 with the signatures of nine bishops. It was recorded that the aforementioned text completely distorts the work of the committee created to address the issue of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan. The committee, in essence, has not convened any meetings and has not even provided an opportunity for His Eminence Arshak to meet with it.

The conclusion of the committee members presented to the Catholicos of All Armenians was not drawn up according to proper procedure. It was also noted that the committee did not make any official request to the Investigative Committee for an expert examination of the video attributed to His Eminence. The conclusion received by an individual member of the committee was obtained in clear violation of the law, is not exhaustive and complete, and cannot serve as a reliable basis, and therefore could not be considered acceptable by the Armenian Pontiff.

It was also reported that on November 24, the chairman of the committee, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, taking into account the difficulties of the existing committee to work effectively, sent a letter to His Holiness, proposing the formation of a new three-member committee to conduct a fair investigation of the issue, which could also consider the temporary suspension of His Eminence's service until the completion of the committee's work. The members of the current committee were informed of and agreed to the proposal for a new committee on November 25.

Thus, it is obvious that the accusations against the Catholicos of All Armenians in the statement are completely baseless and fabricated. The targeting of His Eminence's person and the formation of biased opinions are unacceptable.

Considering this adopted stance condemnable and unacceptable, the council members deemed it a strict imperative that the clergymen return to the canonical field, raising their concerns in the highest collegial bodies of the Church, and not disrupt the unity of the Church.