Catholicos plans to convene National Ecclesiastical Assembly

Catholicos of All Armenians is planning to convene a National Ecclesiastical Assembly, according to Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, Primate of the Masis Diocese. His comments were made in an earlier interview before Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly announced his intention to “liberate the Mother See.”

“The Catholicos has a future plan to hold a National Ecclesiastical Assembly,” said the bishop, as reported by Pastinfo.

He noted that while there is no fixed date yet, the Assembly is expected to be convened in the near future.

“Important matters concerning the Armenian Church are to be discussed at the Assembly,” he emphasized.

“Understand this: we are speaking about a 1700-year-old institution whose rules are sanctified. No individual can alter or violate them, regardless of circumstances. If we seek to further illuminate the Church, the path lies through the National Ecclesiastical Assembly. There are ways to reach it,” he added.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in a Facebook post, stated that “concrete steps must be taken to liberate the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and to organize new Catholicos elections.” He further announced the formation of a Coordination Group to manage organizational matters related to this agenda. Notably, he declared his personal responsibility for selecting the first ten members of this group.