A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation visits the Armenian Apostolic Church on 18-22 September. The visit will include an audience with His Holiness Karekin II, the Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.

The delegation will discuss the current situation at the Lachin Corridor—the main road that links the region to Armenia—which has been blocked for more than nine months, seriously affecting the lives and living conditions of 120,000 people, including children. The humanitarian crisis continues to escalate in the blockaded enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

“Given the terrible situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the continuous struggle for humanitarian aid to reach them, the WCC Central Committee requested the general secretary to lead a delegation to this troubled part of the world. Our visit is intended to express solidarity of the global fellowship, study the situation, establish facts, and consider with the local leaders and people what the WCC can do to address the situation. We ask our member churches and others to pray for the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

A prayer for peace in the region will be offered as the delegation visits the 13th-century Armenian monastery Noravank.

Meetings held in the Armenian capital Yerevan and elsewhere will include state dignitaries, civil society organizations, the EU Civilian Monitoring Mission, and others.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay will be accompanied by His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, vice moderator of the WCC central committee, Rev. Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church of Switzerland, Carla Khijoyan, WCC program executive for Middle East, Peter Prove, director, WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, WCC program executive for WCC Faith and Order Commission.