On November 11-13, 61 bishops and archbishops of the Armenian Church participated in the subsequent Episcopal Conference of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church held by the blessing and under the direction of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, reports the information system of the Mother See to “Hayern Aysor”.

The Conference began with the Lord’s Prayer, after which co-chair of the Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Khazhak Parsamian invited His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia to convey their patriarchal messages.

The opening ceremony ended with the formation of the divan, which included chairmen, Archbishops Yeznik Petrosyan and Sepuh Sarkisian and secretaries, Bishops Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and Babken Charian.

Before discussing the issues on the agenda, the participants prayed for all the spiritual servants of the Armenian Church who died in the passing year and congratulated the Catholicos of All Armenians on the 15^th anniversary of his enthronement.

The sessions of the first two days were devoted to discussions on the rule of classification of saints in the Armenian Church and the classification of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide as saints. Discussing the activities carried out by the Committee on Classification of Saints, the bishops approved the ritual and protocol of the Armenian Church for classification.

It was decided to classify the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide as saints at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on April 23, 2015, and April 24^th was set as the day of remembrance by the Church.

The Committee on Classification of Saints was assigned to conduct the necessary studies on classification of individuals, taking into consideration Komitas Vardapet and other individuals.

The November 12 session began with a prayer for the souls of the Armenians who died during the accident on the road to Gyumri to rest in peace. The bishops expressed their condolences to the victims’ families.

During the November 12-13 sessions, the participants of the Episcopal Conference discussed the activities carried out by the Rituals Committee in relation to the first two symbols of the Armenian Church-Holy Baptism and Holy Mark.

During the first session on November 13, the participants of the Episcopal Conference prayed for the three Armenians who died as a result of the downing by Azerbaijan’s armed forces of the NKR Defense Army’s helicopter at the frontline of Artsakh and issued a statement condemning Azerbaijan’s provocations.

Chief of Staff of the RA President Vigen Sargsyan, who is in charge of coordinating the events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, also participated in the third session on November 13. Sargsyan presented the state programs devoted to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide in 2015, touched upon the joint events that will be held with the Armenian Church in Armenia and abroad and delivered a report on the preparations.

On the last day of the Conference, the participants also touched upon the various challenges facing the nation and the Church, the problems with rituals, propaganda, education, discipline and social issues that need to be solved in order for the Church to accomplish its mission more effectively and formed the agenda for the future Episcopal Conferences.

After the three-day conference, the bishops and archbishops expressed satisfaction with the Most Holy Trinity for providing them with the opportunity to come together and for the success of the Conference.

The next Episcopal Conference will be held in 2016.

The Conference ended with the blessing, words of appraisal and prayer by the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia.