A meeting of the Armenia-based members of the Supreme Spiritual Council had been planned on November 28 at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, but it could not be convened, due to the absence of Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, and Bishop Gevorg Saroyan. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, informed this in a statement it released Friday

“Nevertheless, those who were present held a private reflection regarding the statement publicized on November 27 with the signatures of nine bishops. It was recorded that the above-mentioned text presents in a completely distorted manner the work of the committee created concerning the matter of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan.

In essence, the committee has not held any meetings and has not even provided the opportunity for Bishop Arshak to meet with it, and the conclusion submitted to the Catholicos of All Armenians by the members of the committee was not drawn up according to proper procedure.

It was also noted that the committee did not submit any official request to the Investigative Committee [of Armenia] for an expert examination of the video attributed to the Bishop [Arshak], and that the conclusion received by one member of the committee was obtained in clear violation of the law, is neither exhaustive nor complete, and cannot serve as a reliable basis—and therefore could not be considered acceptable by the Patriarch of All Armenians.

It was also informed that on November 24, the chairman of the committee, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, taking into account the difficulties faced by the existing committee in working effectively, sent a letter to the Patriarch proposing the formation of a new three-member committee to ensure a fair examination of the matter, which could also consider the matter of temporary suspension of the Bishop’s service until the completion of the committee’s work.

The members of the current committee were informed on November 25 about the proposal for a new committee and gave their consent.

Thus, it is evident that the accusations voiced in the statement against the Catholicos of All Armenians are absolutely groundless and fabricated, and that targeting the Bishop [Arshak] personally and forming biased opinions are unacceptable.

Considering this adopted stance as condemnable and unacceptable, the members of the [aforesaid] meeting considered it absolutely imperative that the clergy return to the canonical realm, raising their concerns within the [Armenian Apostolic] Church’s highest assembly bodies, and not to disrupt the unity of the Church,” adds the aforesaid statement.

As reported earlier, a statement signed by several Armenian Apostolic Church bishops and archbishops demanding that Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II order Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See, to leave the latter, was disseminated Thursday.

According to that statement, the authenticity of videos involving Archbishop Khachatryan was confirmed through examination.

After that, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he invites the bishops and archbishops to a meeting. And this meeting took place the same day.