ArmInfo. At the initiative of His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, an ecumenical
(global) prayer for peace and justice in Armenia and the release of
hostages illegally held in Baku will be held in Armenian churches
around the world on November 10.
Prayers will be held in all dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church
around the world. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I and
the World Council of Churches also joined the initiative.
Karekin II called on all Armenians to come to churches and join the
prayer. He noted that this event can help attract the attention of
the world community to the issue of captives ahead of the COP29
climate summit in Azerbaijan on November 11. "We sincerely hope that
these spiritual efforts will raise global awareness of this ongoing
humanitarian crisis and will contribute to a peaceful solution based
on truth and justice," said Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
In turn, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I stated: "We
call on all religious communities, international organizations and
people of good will to join our prayers and intensify efforts to
demand the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian
captives from Baku. We remind the international community
participating in the COP29 summit that justice and peace are closely
interrelated and cannot be separated from each other. We cannot
demand climate justice without condemning human rights violations."
The World Council of Churches (WCC), whose members are more than
three hundred Christian churches from more than one hundred
countries, also expressed its readiness to join the Day of Prayer
dedicated to Armenia for the establishment of peace, support for
refugees and the release of captives. WCC General Secretary Gerry
Pillay called on all churches to join the prayer on November 10 and
to appeal to the international community to continue to provide
support. "We remain in prayerful solidarity with the Armenian
Apostolic Church and Armenia's ecumenical partners," said Gerry
Pillay, reiterating the call for a just and lasting peace in
accordance with international humanitarian and human rights laws. The
World Council of Churches is the largest international ecumenical
organization, uniting some 400 million Christians worldwide.
This is not the first initiative aimed at drawing attention to the
problem of political prisoners in Baku prisons. The international
civil movement #FreeArmenianHostages, which was launched several
months earlier, aims to highlight and draw the attention of the
international community to the prisoners of the Aliyev regime. The
29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), which will begin on
November 11 this year in Baku, provides an opportunity for the world
to see the situation with human rights violations in Azerbaijan. The
movement is based on the assertion that the international community
should not allow the climate agenda to justify war crimes and crimes
against humanity and calls for support of the initiative with posts
on social networks with the hashtags: #FreeArmenianHostages
#HumanRights #JusticeForArmenia #COP29 #StopGreenwashGenocide
#FreePoliticalPrisoners.
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