Within the context of the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Gusztáv Bölcskei, presiding bishop of the RCH, participated in meetings at the Assembly in South Korea with His Holiness Karekin II, supreme patriarch and Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin and All Armenians and also Nareg Alemezian, Archbishop and representative of the Cilician Catholicosate (Lebanon).
The WCC assembly allowed and provided the forum for the open, paternal dialogues. Among many topics was the Hungarian government's release and return home of an Azerbaijanian soldier who killed a fellow Armenian soldier in 2012.
According to a statement released on the Armenian Church website, "His Holiness (Karekin II) sadly reflected on the fact that those circumstances had shadowed the friendship between Armenia and Hungary. The Catholicos of All Armenians also noted that such incidents were intolerable, and it should be globally condemned as an act of inhumanity."
HH Karekin Catholicos at the opening worship of WCC
The Hungarian delegation echoed this sentiment condemning the governmental actions. The RCH and Lutheran Church in Hungary previously offered a letter of sympathy to Karekin II and leaders of the Armenian Church following the return of the aforementioned soldier, Safarov. They concluded with the hope that justice be done while peace and understanding remain in the two countries, and for this solidarity, His Holiness offered his thanks.
Further examples of mutual cooperation were also discussed during the meetings. Bishop Bölcskei offered the RCH's support in the upcoming commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which was recognized and renounced by the WCC and some of its member churches, increasing the solidarity between the RCH and the Armenian Church.
The Bishop made an arrangement for deeper cooperation and fraternal relations - especially in the attendance of diaspora communities - with His Holiness Karekin II and Catholicos Aram's representative. Bishop Bölcskei received an invitation from the two Apostolic Holy Sees, which will serve as an exquisite event to strengthen these relations.