ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION ISSUE ON AGENDA OF SUMMIT OF MIDDLE EAST SPIRITUAL HEADS

Noyan Tapan
May 17 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, MAY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The fifth meeting of ecumenical
officials of the World Council of Churches (WCC) with the participation
of 35 representatives of WCC member churches was held in Geneva on
May 7-9.

The purpose of the meeting was to make relations of the WCC and member
churches more efficient. The WCC Secretary General Rev. Dr. Samuel
Kobia made a speech, in which he presented his activities over the
past year, speaking mainly about visits to various churches.

Executives of the WCC program "Decade of Overcoming Violence" (DOV)
presented the work to be done in the near future.

Within the program’s framework, secretary of the program "Ecumenical
Escort to Palestine" gave a speech, addressing the issue of the
inter-religious summit of Middle East spiritual heads to be held in
Aman in June 2007.

Archbishop Aris Shirvanian will represent the Armenian Apostolic
Church at this summit, while the issue of recognition of the Armenian
Genocide will be on the agenda of the summit.

NT was informed from the press service of the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin that Archimandrite Hovakim Manukian, head of the
Interchurch Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
participated in the above mentioned meeting on hehalf of the Armenian
Apostolic Church. He presented the interchurch activity and the
programs implemented by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

According to him, at the invitation of the Interchurch Relations
Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the "Church and
Society" commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC)
will convene its annual meeting on the subject of cultural dialog in
Etchmiadzin (Armenia) on June 14-19, 2007. More than 35 representatives
of European churches and speakers from the Council of Europe will
take part in the meeting.

At the invitation of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the executive
committee of the World Council of Churches will hold its annual meeting
in the Mother See on September 25-28, 2007. Famous theologians and
religious figures from various countries will attend this meeting. The
Armenian Church is represented by Archbishop Vigen Aykazian at this
highers body of the WCC.

A 21-member delegation of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin headed by
Archbishop Yeznik Petrosian, executive of the Interchurch Relations
Department of the Mother See, will take part in the second European
ecumenical conference to be held on September 5-9.