On the initiative of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, on November 10, an ecumenical (global) prayer will be held in Armenian churches around the world for the sake of peace and justice in Armenia and the release of hostages held illegally in Baku.
A prayer will be offered in all dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church around the world. The Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I and the World Council of Churches also joined the initiative. Garegin II called on all Armenians to come to the churches and join the prayer.
He noted that on the eve of the COP29 climate summit to be held in Azerbaijan on November 11, this event can draw the world's attention to the problem of prisoners. "We sincerely hope that these spiritual efforts will raise global awareness of this ongoing humanitarian crisis and contribute to a peaceful solution based on truth and justice," Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II said.
Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I of the Great House, for his part, announced. "We call on all religious communities, international organizations and people of good will to join our prayers and intensify their efforts, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners held in Baku.
We remind the international community participating in COP29 that justice and peace are closely related 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 a hundred countries, has also expressed readiness to join the day of prayer dedicated to Armenia for peace, support for refugees and the release of prisoners. WCC Secretary General Jerry Pillai called on all churches to join the November 10 prayer and appeal to the international community to continue their support.
"We continue to stand with the Armenian Apostolic Church and the ecumenical partners of Armenia in our prayerful solidarity," said Jerry Pillai, affirming 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, which unites about 400 million Christians worldwide. This is not the first initiative to draw attention to the issue of political prisoners in Baku prisons.
The international civil movement #FreeArmenianHostages, launched a few months ago, aims to highlight and draw the attention of the international community to the prisoners of the Aliyev regime.
The 29th conference of the UN COP29 parties on climate change issues, which will start on November 11 of this year in Baku, gives the world an opportunity to see the situation related to human rights violations in Azerbaijan.
The core belief behind the movement is that the international community should not allow the climate agenda to justify war crimes and crimes against humanity, and calls for #FreeArmenianHostages #HumanRights #JusticeForArmenia #COP29 #StopGreenwashGenocide #FreePoliticalPrisoners to support the initiative with social media posts.