ASIA/LEBANON - Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh: solidarity from the Catholic Patriarchs in Lebanon towards "Armenian brothers and sisters, wounded in their dignity"

Friday, 13 November 2020 middle east oriental churches wars coronavirus

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Bkerké (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Patriarchs of Lebanon declare their solidarity with "the Armenian brothers and sisters in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, whose dignity has been wounded and who are affected by the consequences of the war with Azerbaijan". The Presidency of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon gave its opinion on Thursday, November 12th, after a meeting at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké. The meeting was attended by the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai, the Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan, the Greek Catholic Melkite Patriarch Youssef Absi and the Armenian Catholic Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Ghabroyan. In the message released at the end of the meeting, the Patriarchs recalled the victims of the conflict and the suffering inflicted on the civilian populations, urging the intervention of the UN to resolve the factors of discord that have fueled the conflict in that area of the Caucasus for decades. "We renew our confidence in the wisdom and unity of the Armenian people", the Patriarchs write, "and we pray to God that he may help them in their situation".
In the late evening of Monday 9 November, after 6 weeks of conflict, the political leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the truce for the ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh, reached with the decisive mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many Armenians see the ceasefire as a surrender, as Boutros Marayati, Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, told Fides (see Fides, 10/11/2020). The agreement provides for the deployment of Russian peace units along the front line and the guarding of the corridor between Karabakh and Armenia. Armenian troops are expected to withdraw from the areas occupied at the time of the armistice by the beginning of December. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 13/11/2020)