Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responds to letter from  bishops who  spoke out against Catholicos of All Armenians

ArmInfo. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responded to a letter from a group of bishops who had spoken out against the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin  II.

A statement released by the press office of the Mother See of Holy  Etchmiadzin noted that a meeting of the members of the Supreme  Spiritual Council currently in Armenia was scheduled to take place in  the Mother See on November 28, chaired by His Holiness Karekin II,  Catholicos of All Armenians. "However, it was not possible to convene  a full meeting due to the absence of Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan,  Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop  Vrtanes Abrahamyan, and Bishop Gevorg Saroyan," the Etchmiadzin  statement read. These bishops' names appear in a letter circulated  the day before by pro-government platforms, which, among other  things, calls for the resignation of Catholicos.

The Holy Etchmiadzin press office reported that the participants   specifically highlighted a statement published on November 27, signed  by nine bishops. "It was noted that the aforementioned statement  completely distorts the work of the commission established to  investigate Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan.  The commission did not  hold a single meeting or  provide Archbishop Arshak with the  opportunity to meet with it, and the commission members' conclusions,  presented to the Catholicos of All Armenians, were not formally  formalized," the statement reads.

It was also noted that the commission did not request the  Investigative Committee to examine the video recording attributed to  Archbishop Arshak. The conclusion received by an individual  commission member was obtained in clear violation of the law, is not  exhaustive and complete, and cannot serve as a reliable basis, and  therefore cannot be considered acceptable by the Armenian Patriarch.  Holy Etchmiadzin also reported that on November 24, the chairman of  the commission, Archbishop Khajak Parsamian, taking into account the  difficulties in the effective work of the current commission, sent a  letter to His Holiness with a proposal to form a new commission of  three people to conduct an objective study of the issue. The new  commission  could also consider the issue of temporarily suspending  the archbishop from service until the completion of the commission's  work. 

"On November 25, the current commission members were informed about   the proposal to create a new commission and they gave their consent.  It is therefore clear that the accusations made in a statement  against the Catholicos of All Armenians are completely baseless and  fabricated. Attacks on the bishop's personality and the development  of biased opinions are unacceptable.

Considering the adopted position reprehensible and unacceptable, the  council members deemed it absolutely necessary for the clergy to  return to the canonical field, raise their issues in the highest  ecclesiastical councils, and not violate the unity of the Church,"  the AAC statement reads.