Attacks on Supreme Patriarch and formation of biased opinions are unacceptable – Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has issued a statement.

“Under the chairmanship of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, a meeting of the members of the Supreme Spiritual Council residing in Armenia was scheduled for November 28 at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The meeting could not be convened due to the absence of Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Archbishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, and Archbishop Gevorg Saroyan.
Nevertheless, the participants present at the gathering addressed the statement published on November 27, signed by nine bishops. It was noted that the aforementioned statement completely distorts the work of the commission established regarding Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan. The commission in fact did not convene a single session and did not even provide Archbishop Arshak the opportunity to meet with it, while the conclusion of the commission members presented to the Catholicos of All Armenians was not prepared in due manner.

It was also noted that the commission did not submit any official request to the Investigative Committee for an expert examination of the video recording attributed to the Archbishop, and the conclusion obtained by an individual member of the commission was acquired in clear violation of the law. It is neither comprehensive nor complete and cannot serve as a reliable basis—something that could not be acceptable to the Armenian Patriarch.

It was further reported that on November 24, the chairman of the commission, Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan, considering the difficulties in the effective work of the current commission, sent a letter to His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch proposing the formation of a new three-member commission to conduct a fair investigation of the matter. This commission could also discuss the issue of temporarily suspending the bishop from service until the completion of its work. On November 25, the members of the current commission were informed of the proposal for a new commission and gave their consent.
Thus, it is evident that the accusations made in the statement against the Catholicos of All Armenians are completely groundless and fabricated, and attacks on the Supreme Patriarch and the formation of biased opinions are unacceptable,” the statement reads.