President Serzh Sargsyan takes part in 5th Ecclesiastical Representatives Assembly

President Serzh Sargsyan today took part in the 5th Ecclesiastical Representatives’ Assembly held on the initiative of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians at Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The purpose of the assembly is to discuss urgent issues concerning the clerical and national life and finalize the steps and initiatives aimed at responding to existing challenges.

After the Lord’s Prayer and the welcome speech delivered by the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Armenian President expressed his gratitude to the Supreme Patriarch for the invitation to take part in the assembly and wished effective work to the 5th Ecclesiastical Representatives’ Assembly. In his speech directed to the representatives of the hierarchical sees of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the representatives of patriarchal delegations and dioceses and guests, the president took the opportunity to once again express readiness on behalf of all government bodies of Armenia and on his own behalf to stand firmly beside all patriotic undertakings of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Serzh Sargsyan presented the results and impressions of his two-day official visit to the Holy See to the participants and answered all the questions of the participants concerning multifarious topics – possibilities of further strengthening the state-church cooperation, the events being organized ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centenary, efforts of the church aimed at cooperating with the state, assistance to our compatriots who have moved to the homeland from Syria, the social-economic problems of Armenia and the works being carried out by the state to deal with those problems, as well as the latest developments pertaining to the peace negotiations of the NKR conflict and its prospects.