According to information from Yerevan, twenty-five bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church have expressed support for Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, and have condemned the Armenian authorities for the "unfounded persecution" of the church's supreme leader and twelve other high-ranking clergy.
Redaksiya reports that following a three-day meeting in Austria, which Karekin II was not permitted to attend by the authorities, they also demanded the immediate release of three archbishops and one bishop arrested last year amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's attempts to remove the Catholicos from his post.
"We, the bishops of the Armenian Church, affirm our loyalty to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and to the Catholicos of All Armenians, as the visible symbol and guarantor of the Church's unity, peace, and accord," the joint statement, released late Thursday night, February 19, stated.
The extraordinary meeting of the church's highest-ranking clergy worldwide was initially planned to be held in Etchmiadzin from December 10 to 12. Karekin postponed the meeting due to government pressure and then moved it to St. Pölten, Austria.
Armenia's law enforcement body accused the Catholicos and six other bishops, prohibiting them from leaving the country before the postponed meeting. Pashinyan had openly promised to obstruct this on February 13.
The meeting proceeded despite its status being downgraded by the Mother See of Etchmiadzin due to Garegin's non-attendance. Karekin addressed the participants via video link, while Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia, the second person in the church hierarchy, as well as the Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Istanbul, sent letters of support.