Church leaders call on Pope to help free Armenian prisoners

PanARMENIAN.Net - Catholic and Armenian Apostolic Church leaders have appealed to Pope Leo XIV, urging him to take steps to help secure the release of Armenians held in Azerbaijan.

The Christian Post reviewed the appeal sent to the Pope ahead of Christmas. The letter states that at least 23 prisoners are victims of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.

More than a dozen senior clerics signed the appeal. The list of signatories is led by retired Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Archbishop Anoushavan Danielian, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Eastern Diocese of North America, Panorama.am reports.

According to Switzerland-based Christian Solidarity International, around two dozen Armenians are currently being held in Baku, mostly former senior officials. They are being tried behind closed doors, deprived of proper legal defense and the ability to challenge evidence presented against them. The European Parliament has already warned that the hostages are subjected to “sham trials.”

“Communication with their families, already limited, has been further disrupted since last year, when Azerbaijan expelled the Red Cross. Their Christian faith and human dignity are being suppressed,” the clerics wrote in the letter to the Pope.

The signatories noted that the fate of about 80 people remains unknown overall following Azerbaijan’s takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh. They stressed that the captives have been denied contact and basic legal protections, and have also faced persecution for their Christian faith while in detention.

The letter also refers to reports that Azerbaijan has destroyed historic Armenian churches and monasteries on a scale exceeding the actions of the “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria. The authors described this as part of a deliberate campaign to erase nearly 2,000 years of Christian presence in the region.

“Victims of Azerbaijan’s campaign are not only imprisoned individuals, but also sacred heritage that is being destroyed. Recent documentation shows that Azerbaijan has systematically destroyed more Christian monuments and churches in Nagorno-Karabakh than the Islamic State did in Iraq and Syria. This amounts to the erasure of traces of an almost two-thousand-year-old Christian civilization, including medieval churches, monasteries, and countless shrines,” the letter states.

Among the signatories are also Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Eastern Diocese of North America, Bishop Francois of the Melkite Catholic Church of Beirut, and Simone Rizcallah, a representative of the Catholic coalition against antisemitism.

The appeal also recalls the recent canonization by the pope of Armenian martyr Saint Ignatius Maloyan as a sign of the Roman Catholic Church’s continued solidarity with the Armenian people. It also cites the pope’s earlier statement that Armenians “carve the cross into stone as a sign of their strong and unshakable faith.”

The clerics argue that the situation requires intervention by the Holy See, given its moral authority and diplomatic ties with Baku. The letter urges the pope to personally advocate for the prisoners’ release, noting that such an appeal could help end the suffering of families still awaiting news of their loved ones.

The group of clerics asked the pope to act ahead of Christmas, calling the holiday a season of mercy and reconciliation.

According to Azerbaijani media, prosecutors have sought life sentences for former Nagorno-Karabakh president Araik Harutyunyan, former foreign minister Davit Babayan, former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, former deputy commander Davit Manukyan, and former Artsakh parliament speaker Davit Ishkhanyan.

In addition, prosecutors have requested 20-year prison terms for former Nagorno-Karabakh presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, as well as Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayan. Requested sentences for others include: Garik Martirosyan — 19 years; Davit Alaverdyan — 18 years; Levon Babayan — 17 years; Vasili Beglaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Edik Ghazaryan — 16 years.