US Congressmen Visit the Ecumenical Centre of the Mother See
April 2014
On April 24, following their meeting with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Mr. Ed Royce, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives; and the delegation of the US congressmen visited the newly opened Ecumenical Centre of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Accompanying them were Mr. John Heffern, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Unites States to Armenia; Mr. Ken Hachikian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America; and ANCA members Mr. Raffi Hamparian, Ms.Nora Hovsepian, Mr. Steve Hovsepian and Mr. Raffi Garagashian.
During the visit, the guests were introduced to the mobile exhibition entitled “Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian Genocide” organized by the Armenia Inter-Church Charitable Round Table Foundation, and participated in a discussion on the situation of religious organizations and Churches in the Republic of Turkey.
His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Director of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See, and Primate of the Artik Diocese, reflected on the ecumenical relations of the Armenian Church. Bishop Hovakim also presented the steps taken by the Churches for the protection of the rights of the religious organizations in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, including the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Churches. Bishop Hovakim made remarks about the history and current state of several churches in historic Western Armenia, conveying to the U.S. Congressmen the appreciation of the Catholicos of All Armenians for their legislative initiative to return to their rightful owners the church properties within the territory of Turkey.
At the conclusion of the meeting the guests visited the museums of the Mother See and the Mother Cathedral.
