His Holiness Catholicos Aram I set up a committee to manage the aid provided by the Prelacies under the jurisdiction of the Great House of Cilicia to the 100,000 displaced Armenians of Artsakh, following nine months of blockade.
The members of the committee are Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy; Bishop Torkom, Prelate of the Western Prelacy; Jirayr Habibian, chairman of the Executive Council of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar’s Prelacy, and Hagop Lusararian, member of the Board of Trustees of the Executive Council of the Lebanon Prelacy.
The Catholicos directed the committee to visit Armenia on a three-day trip to organize the next steps.
On Wednesday, October 18, the Prelates met with His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, to whom they conveyed the brotherly greetings of Catholicos Aram I and the support of the Great House of Cilicia to the humanitarian work carried out by the Holy See in Etchmiadzin. Catholicos Karekin II welcomed the cooperation, describing it as proof of the union and strength of the Armenian Church. He briefed his visitors about the humanitarian work carried out with the Primates of the Etchmiadzin Dioceses.
The Prelates, together with the other members of the committee, then visited the refugees who are currently in Yerevan, Proshyan, and Kotayk, bringing encouragement and faith to them in the present dire circumstances. The committee also met with the governor of the region of Aragatsotn.
The committee mission also provided material aid to the displaced families.