President Vahagn Khachaturyan received Archbishop Shahan Sarkissian, the representative of Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia. On behalf of Aram I, Archbishop Sarkissian presented the President with a commemorative volume marking the 30th anniversary of the Catholicos’s enthronement, conveying the Catholicos’s warm greetings and blessings, according to the presidential press office.
“Archbishop Sarkissian conveyed Catholicos Aram I’s hope and expectation that the troubling issues observed in our society will, with God’s blessing and guidance, find positive resolution for the sake of our people’s unity, peace, and prosperity,” the statement reads.
President Khachaturyan expressed gratitude for the valuable gift, saying it was a great honor to receive it. He praised Aram I’s spiritual and national efforts, highlighting the Catholicos’s steadfast commitment to pan-Armenian unity and to preserving the Armenian value system. The President also asked that his warm greetings and best wishes be conveyed to the Catholicos.
During the meeting, the sides discussed strengthening ties between Armenia and the Diaspora, the spiritual and national education of youth, and the work of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. They also explored ways to ensure the continuity of initiatives that promote pan-Armenian unity.
Archbishop Shahan Sarkissian, representing Catholicos Aram I, is visiting Armenia and met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on October 16. According to Antelias, Sarkissian conveyed Aram I’s concerns about the arrests of clergy—details not mentioned in the government’s account, which only noted the Catholicos’s greetings and blessings.
