WCC news: WCC calls for international response to the needs of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees

Armenian people and churches urgently need “a generous international response to the humanitarian needs of the refugees who fled from Nagorno-Karabakh, especially vulnerable women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and those without any other means of support,” the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee stated during its meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.  During the visit to Armenia on 18-22 September 2023, WCC delegation visited a 13th-century Noravank monastery, located in Amaghu River gorge, near the town of Yeghegnadzor in Armenia. The ecumenical delegation included Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary, His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, vice moderator of the WCC central committee, Rev. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church of Switzerland, and staff members of the WCC. Photo: Peter Prove/WCC 13 November 2023 The governing body released a statement after reviewing the report of a WCC delegation visit to Armenia on 18-22 September. The statement “expresses deep solidarity with the Armenian people and churches, and especially with all those who have fled from their ancient homeland in Nagorno-Karabakh, following the traumatic events of 19-20 September 2023.”  The WCC also expresses profound regret that, “in the years since the 1992-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh war, ways could not be found to secure a sustainable peace among the people of the region.” The statement urges the government of Azerbaijan to guarantee security and equal rights for those ethnic Armenian people who remain or who may decide to return to their homes. Among other calls, the statement also appeals to the European Union “to strengthen the EU Mission in Armenia, in order to ensure sufficient personnel and resources to monitor and report on any incursions by Azerbaijan’s armed forces on the sovereign territory of Armenia.” WCC executive committee statement on the consequences of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh WCC “source of hope in this world,” says WCC moderator (WCC news release, 08 November 2023) WCC general secretary to executive committee: “How can we be God’s healing and restoring presence?” (WCC news release, 08 November 2023) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland