Participants of Prayer Breakfast call for release of arrested priests

Participants of the Christian Prayer Breakfast appealed to the Armenian authorities to release the detained clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Armenian Bishop from the United States, Daniel Findikyan, reminded attendees that three of his spiritual brothers remain in custody: Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan.

“All of them are imprisoned by the Armenian government,” he noted in his remarks, shared on X.

Asif Mahmood, Vice Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, also voiced support for the detained clergy: “I am very concerned about reports of clergy being detained in Armenia. I urge the authorities to respect due process, and to release them where appropriate.”

Joel Veldkamp, International Communications Officer for Christian Solidarity International, recorded a video message yesterday from Republic Square in Yerevan. He expressed his wish to obtain permission to visit the arrested priests.

“We’re happy to be here, but we have some questions,” he said.