On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, His Holiness Aram I received a delegation from the Governing Board members of the Conference of European Churches (CEC)- Rt Rev. Christopher Hill, President of the conference; Very Rev. Karin Burstrand and H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Co-Vice-Presidents; as well as Fr. Heikki Huttunen, the General Secretary. Present at the meeting alongside His Holiness, were Archbishop Shahan Sarkissian, the Prelate of Syria, and Very. Rev. Fr.  Hrant Tahanian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate.

The delegation aimed to hear His Holiness’ views on current issues affecting the Middle East. His Holiness Aram I shared his insight with the guests and stressed the importance of cooperation between churches, the need to for wider collaboration between the social and educational spheres, as well as the imperative of strengthening the inter-faith dialogue between Muslims and Christians. His Holiness also stressed the necessity to broaden the cooperation between the Middle East Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches.

Subsequently, the guests were given a tour of the Catholicosate’s ‘St. Gregory the Illuminator’ Cathedral, the Armenian Genocide Memorial Chapel, and the recently unveiled Memorial dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the First Independence of the Republic of Armenia.