As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, PM Pashinyan said,
“Your Holiness, Catholicos of All Armenians,
Your Holiness, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
I am glad to see and meet you. Of course, we have met in the past and I recall my visit to Antelias with warmth on the occasion of the jubilee year of your activities. My meetings with the Catholicos of All Armenians are regular. Some of those meetings are covered by the media, some are not and I greatly highlight this interaction. Frankly speaking, I even think that the dialogue has not kicked off yet, because this is a period when we are very cautious towards issues and this is natural. But I think during this period we have succeeded in one thing – we managed to create a sincere and open atmosphere. This particular dialogue is of key importance for the future of our country, for the future of our people, because I think that we have a very important mission to discuss our nation-wide agenda and establish a nation-wide agenda. We know one thing for sure –we, our people, our church and our religious class have a shared acknowledgment that we will not be defeated and have to overcome all the challenges facing our state, people – the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the Diaspora. I am confident that such interactions, our relations with the Church and discussions are of decisive and key importance. I am very glad for this opportunity and I am thankful for the visit”.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II said,
“Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister,
Today we have the pleasant opportunity to visit you together with the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I. We are thankful for this opportunity. As you may know, it’s already a few day Catholicos Aram I is in Armenia, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and during these days we together referred to the issues concerning our Church, different issues and problems facing our Church, as well as we discussed issues referring our national life. Of course, we informed Catholicos Aram I that by your decision a working group has been established to examine issues concerning the Church and the State, and to find reasonable solutions for them. We also referred to the mission of our Church in our national and spiritual life, highlighting our role for the spiritual and national consolidation of our people, as well as for the progress of our country. We emphasized the importance of stability in our country and that the atmosphere of love prevails in our country. And the Armenian Church, like during our entire history, has always stood with the state whenever we had our independent statehood, and made a contribution to the safe and secure existence of our country. We have had numerous opportunities to emphasize that the Armenian Apostolic Church will continue the same work with the same vigor and enthusiasm, so as to enable our people to overcome all the difficulties with joint efforts, all the problems facing today our country and the world-spread Armenian people. Naturally, this goes for the issue of the recognition of Artsakh’s independence, recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the stable, safe progress of our country.
We once again want to thank you for today’s meeting and convey our best wishes to you and the success of your efforts”.
Catholicos of the Great House...
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