Two bishops from Armenia are taking part in a gathering in Austria, while Catholicos Garegin II will not attend due to a travel ban imposed by investigators.

From February 16 to 19, two bishops from Armenia will participate in a meeting of bishops held in St. Pölten, Austria. The information was confirmed by Fr. Yesayi Arthenyan, head of the Information System of the Mother See.

Two Armenian bishops, Bishop Ararat Galtagchyan and Bishop Daniel Fndkyan, are participating in a meeting of bishops in St. Pölten, Austria, according to Factor.am.

The Catholicos will not attend the Assembly of Bishops. On February 14, it became known that the Investigative Committee had chosen a preventive measure of a ban on absence against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. The grounds cited were a criminal case initiated under the article on obstructing the enforcement of a judicial act.

In addition to the Catholicos, six more bishops will not participate in the Assembly of Bishops scheduled in Austria, also due to a prohibition on leaving the country.

After the Sunday liturgy, Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan told journalists that the bishops would gather in Austria, and that in the absence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the status of the meeting had somewhat changed. It has been transformed into a gathering of bishops.

Former State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan, commenting on the criminal proceedings initiated against the Supreme Patriarch and a group of bishops and the imposed restriction, wrote that this was “another in a series of anti-church, anti-national and anti-state actions, which, unfortunately, was an expected development in the context of the authorities’ sharply escalatory and divisive strategy in domestic life.”

“I express my respect to the steadfast spiritual fathers, from whom it is expected both not to break and to strengthen the Christian and national pillars of the Armenian Apostolic Church through the true Christian path of self-purification and service. ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’” the post reads.

On February 13, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the purpose of convening the Assembly of Bishops in Austria was to remove the Catholicosate of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the treasures of Etchmiadzin from Armenia.

“I will not allow that. Armenia is not going to watch like an observer; the response will be very tough. We will redirect the gaze of those who, under the mask of benefactors, have set their sights on the treasures of Etchmiadzin to a completely different direction. If additional measures are needed for this, additional measures will be taken.”