Assembly of Armenian Bishops Opens in Austria

A special Episcopal Assembly convened this week in St. Pölten, Austria, bringing together 25 archbishops and bishops of the Armenian Church for several days of discussion. The meeting is going forward under the authority of the Catholicate of All Armenians, and includes representatives from the Armenian Church’s historic hierarchical centers as well as diocesan jurisdictions around the world.

Following an early morning Sunrise Service and a period of spiritual retreat and prayer, the Episcopal Assembly officially opened on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 17, with a worship service and readings from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, on the subject of unity.

His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, addressed the assembly in a video message broadcast live from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Additional messages of greeting were received from 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.

After discussing and approving the agenda, a council was elected to oversee the Episcopal Assembly. Serving as one of the elected officers is Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of America.

In addition to the Eastern Diocesan Primate, bishops attending the Austria meeting who have ties to the Armenian Church’s North American dioceses include Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Bishop Abgar Hovakimyan, Primates respectively of the Western and Canadian dioceses; Eastern Diocesan Legate Archbishop Vicken Aykazian; former Eastern Diocesan Primates Archbishop Khajag Barsamian and Bishop Daniel Findikyan; Bishop Nareg Berberian and Bishop Oshagan Gulgulian, Primates respectively of Brazil and Iraq.

To conclude the assembly’s first day, the Armenian clergy took part in a Vespers Service at the majestic, 1,200-year-old St. Pölten Cathedral, where Bishop Alois Schwarz, the Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Pölten, delivered a welcoming address.