H.H. Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, urged prayers for hostages, and the pursuit of truth and justice.
“Your support for the people of Artsakh, especially those distressed and those unlawfully held in the prisons of Azerbaijan, is a profound testament to Christian solidarity and fellowship,” he said, reflecting on the unspeakable hardships and ethic cleansing the region has face. "Your commitment to join us in prayer renews our hope in our call for justice, peace, and dignity for all and especially for the recognition of the right of our people of Artsakh, and the freedom of our captive sons.”
World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm reflected that Armenia needs our prayers. “There is so much strength in the hearts and the souls of the Armenian people,” he said.
The World Council of Churches is inviting all people of good will to join a prayer day for Armenia—for peace, for support for refugees, and the release of war hostages—on 10 November, the day before the opening of the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan.
The military aggression against the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh in September-October 2020, followed by the ten-month-long total blockade of the Lachin corridor and the forced displacement of around 120,000 Armenians from their ancestral lands in September 2023, remains a critical concern.
COP29 presents a unique opportunity to advocate for the unconditional release of the 23 Armenian hostages, as well as the Azeri political prisoners and journalists detained in Azeri jails.
The WCC will organize a local prayer service in St Pierre Cathedral on 10 November at 5pm CET Geneva in collaboration with the Armenian community.