Armenian Apostolic Holy Church Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On 17–19 February 2026, at the invitation and with the blessing of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, the Assembly of Bishops convened in the city of Sankt Pölten, Austria, concluded its proceedings.

As a result of the meeting, the participants issued the following statement:

“We, the twenty-five bishops of the Catholicosate of All Armenians — of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople — render thanks and glory to the Heavenly Lord, who granted us the grace, at the beginning of the Great Lent, to renew in prayerful unity before the Holy Altar of the Descent our episcopal vow, and through spiritual retreat to be strengthened in our sacred calling, so that in these turbulent times we may continue, with greater zeal and responsibility, to make fruitful our mission for the wellbeing of our Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, for the strengthening of the faith of our faithful people dispersed throughout the world, and for the fortification of their spiritual life.

We express our filial gratitude to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, at whose paternal invitation we bishops serving in the homeland and the Diaspora have gathered together to reflect jointly upon the challenges facing the Armenian Church and to seek solutions for overcoming them.

With deep concern and condemnation we note that, due to unfounded criminal prosecution, the departure from Armenia of the Armenian Pontiff and our six brother bishops and their participation in this significant Assembly of great importance to the life of the Church were obstructed. Because of this artificially created impediment, we were compelled to listen to the Pontifical message of the Catholicos of All Armenians by means of telecommunication. Messages were also addressed to this Assembly by the Heads of our other Hierarchical Sees: His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; and His Beatitude Archbishop Sahak Mashalian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople.

During its three-day sessions, the Assembly of Bishops examined the following items on the agenda:

– ‘The Mission of the Church in the Contemporary Period and the Existing Challenges in the Homeland and the Diaspora’ (rapporteur: Archbishop Hovnan Derderian),

– ‘The Present State of Church–State Relations and the Situation Created around the Church in Armenia’ (rapporteur: Bishop Grigor Khachatryan),

– ‘The Protection of the Church’s Autonomy from Political Manipulation and the Ways of Overcoming the Present Situation’ (rapporteur: Bishop Ashot Mnatsakanyan).

In an atmosphere of brotherly love and mutual understanding, following substantive and constructive discussions, we, the participants of the Assembly of Bishops, resolutely reaffirm the orders and principles sanctified by the tradition and centuries-old experience of our Holy Church in regard to her salvific mission and also in relation to national and homeland life, recording in particular that:

a. The Head of the Armenian Church, founded by the preaching of Saint Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, is Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:22). This divinely established institution is governed by Holy Scripture, the teaching and canons of the Church, and by the principle of apostolic succession under the pastoral leadership of the Armenian Catholicoi. The mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the homeland and the Diaspora includes the spiritual care and Christian education of the sons and daughters of our nation, as well as the preservation of national and spiritual identity.

b. Throughout the course of its centuries-old history, the Armenian Church, as the ‘Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15), in accordance with the demands of the times and through internal renewal, has always kept alive its essential mission of preaching the Gospel of Christ and leading the people toward salvation.

c. At the same time, the Armenian Church, as an ancient institution of pan-national significance, has consistently been an advocate for the existence of Armenian independent statehood and has supported it to the fullest extent possible, and continues even today to contribute to its strengthening and advancement, in the unshakeable conviction that the homeland state is the protector and guarantor of the perpetuity of the Armenian people and the realization of national aspirations. Along this path, the Armenian Church has never served and does not serve foreign powers or external interests, but has kept its fidelity uncompromisingly and exclusively to the Armenian people, to their statehood, and to the preservation of national identity.

In this context, the order of bishops expresses deep concern regarding the undesirable present condition of Church–State relations and, in this perilous situation, calls upon the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to:

– cease persecutions against the Church and respect the sovereignty and autonomy of the Church, secured through the centuries, basing Church–State relations upon mutual respect, clear delineation of competencies, and the primacy of national interest,

– put an end to repressions against clergy and the nationally elected Catholicos of All Armenians based on fabricated accusations and slander,

– release our four imprisoned sacred brothers, the priest, as well as the sons of the nation who have spoken out in defence of the Church,

– act exclusively in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, its legislation and international law, and remain faithful to proclaimed democratic principles, guaranteeing freedom of conscience, religion and belief in the country, and ensuring public solidarity instead of division,

– dispel existing problems and disagreements in a spirit of dialogue, without preconditions, refraining from futile ultimatum rhetoric.

The participants of the Assembly of Bishops simultaneously exhort the eight erring hierarchs to:

– act with awareness of the vow of fidelity and of their ministerial calling toward Holy Etchmiadzin and the Catholicos of All Armenians,

– raise and resolve issues pertaining to internal Church life exclusively within the authorised ecclesiastical bodies of the Church,

– refrain from anti-canonical actions, weakening steps and separatist manifestations which threaten to cause schism, thereby weakening the mission of the Church in the life of our faithful people. In this regard, the omission of the commemoration of His Holiness during the Divine Liturgy, under any justification, is ecclesiologically unacceptable and constitutes a direct blow to the brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin and the unity of the Armenian Church.

Considering unacceptable any movement of reform under external compulsion, we deem it an imperative necessity that the work of overcoming the challenges facing the Armenian Church and of her orderly improvement be carried out solely within the Assembly of Bishops and the supreme canonical bodies of the Church.
We, the bishops of the Armenian Church, reaffirm our fidelity to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and to the Catholicos of All Armenians as the visible symbol and guarantor of the unity, reconciliation and concord of the Church, for ‘God is not the author of confusion, but of peace’ (1 Cor. 14:33).

With the blessing of His Holiness, we are committed, through the regular convocation of the Assembly of Bishops, to contribute to the examination and overcoming of the challenges facing the Church and to the further strengthening of our spiritual ministry in the life of our people.

We address our exhortation to the clergy of our Holy Church to remain steadfast in their calling and service, ‘being examples to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity’ (1 Tim. 4:12).

The Church must unwaveringly continue her sacred mission, regardless of external pressures, remaining faithful to the Holy Gospel and to the orthodox doctrine of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.

On this occasion, we also call upon our faithful people, as ‘one body and one Spirit’ in Christ (Eph. 4:4), to remain faithful and united around our Apostolic Holy Church and, through prayerful communion and devotion and through good works, to cultivate and brighten our national and spiritual fields.

Deeply concerned by the false trial and unlawful verdicts carried out in Baku against the leadership of Artsakh, we call upon the international community and the Sister Churches to continue to make efforts toward the swift release of the captive Armenian sons.

From the depths of our hearts, our prayer is that the Good God, through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God and all the saints, keep and preserve our Holy Church steadfast and unshaken, strengthen Armenian independent statehood, and lead the life of the Armenian nation dispersed throughout the world in peace and prosperity. We beseech the Lord to grant peace to the whole world, to all nations and peoples.

‘Finally, brethren, rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you’ (2 Cor. 13:11).”