27 senior clergymen reaffirm loyalty to Catholicos
PanARMENIAN.Net – A large group of archbishops and bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church issued a statement reaffirming their unwavering loyalty and devotion to Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
The statement has been signed by 27 high-ranking clerics.
“We find any attempt to resolve internal church matters through political interference unacceptable and dangerous, regardless of the justification. All issues related to church governance and internal life are resolvable through brotherly love, high apostolic consciousness, and competent church-assembly bodies, in accordance with the active canonical procedures of our Holy Church.
We consider the arbitrary omission of the Catholicos’s name during the Divine Liturgy a gross canonical violation, and theologically a source of division.
We are confident that the unity and peace of our Holy Church transcend personal, group, or other interests and will be strengthened through communion in love, the path of truth and justice, and the apostolic exhortation: ‘I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them’ (Romans 16:17).
We are convinced that, through the united efforts of our episcopate, effective solutions will be found in the interest of our Holy Church,” the statement reads.
The signatories are: Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan, Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Archbishop Hakob Glnjyan, Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan, Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Archbishop Haigazoun Najarian, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Bishop Tatev Hakobyan, Bishop Ararat Kaltakdjian, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, Bishop Abgar Hovakimyan, Bishop Markos Hovhannisyan, Bishop Mushegh Babayan, Bishop Narek Berberyan, Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan, Bishop Daniel Findikyan, Bishop Tiran Petrosyan, Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Bishop Oshakan Gulgulian, Bishop Aren Shahenyan, Bishop Grigor Khachatryan, Bishop Kirakos Davtyan, and Bishop Makar Hakobyan.
