On 10 June, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians received representative of the Assyrian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Dionisios Jean Kavak, representative of the Greek Patriarchate of Antioch and All East, Bishop Demetrios Charbak, secretary general of the Council of Churches in the Middle East, Dr. Elias El Halab and correspondent for programs of the WCC in the Middle East, Mr. Michel Nseir, who had arrived in the Mother See to participate in the international consultation on “Crisis in Syria: Challenges Facing Faithful Communities”, which will be held at the Mother See on 11-12 June.

The Catholicos of All Armenians greeted the representatives of the Sister Churches and the WCC, gave his blessing to and expressed his appreciation of them for arriving in Armenia by paying heed to the invitation from the Mother See. Talking about the heavy situation in Syria and particularly the Christian communities, His Holiness attached importance to combining humanitarian efforts of the Christian Churches to heal the wounds of the pious people of Syria, reestablish peace in Syria and get the people back on track. In this regard, His Holiness underlined with satisfaction that the consultation organized by the World Council of Churches will also help indicate the directions to solve the conflict.

The Catholicos of All Armenians also praised and touched upon the dedicated service of clergymen serving in the Near East and Syria and voiced confidence that the difficult times would end with the piety of God, strong faith and the spirit of optimism.

The Catholicos of All Armenians presented the support provided by the Armenian Apostolic Church to the people and Armenian community of Syria and assured that the Mother See will continue to support the people suffering from the horrors of war.

During the conversation, the sides also expressed concern about the situation facing the Christian communities in Syria and the decline of Christians’ presence as a result of the war.

Among the participants of the meeting were Prelate of the Armenian Diocese of Damascus, Father, Bishop Armash Nalbandyan and Head of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See, Prelate of the Artik Diocese, Father, Bishop Hovakim Manukyan.

Information service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin