Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II delivered opening remarks Wednesday at the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), which kicked off in Busan, South Korea.

In his address, Karekin II called upon everyone to help the Christians in the Middle East.   

He stated that the Christian communities in the Middle East have lived in peace and in goodness, and Christians have played a historical role of peacekeepers in the region.

“We must resolutely declare the universality of the doctrine of human rights, whether it is about the struggle for life in Syria and Egypt, or the right to self-determination of the free inhabitants of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” the Catholicos also stated, in particular.  

Karekin II added that 2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and, in this connection, he extended his thanks to the WCC and more than twenty countries for officially recognizing the Genocide.