Leaders of every Armenian church body in the United States met President Donald Trump in the Oval Office alongside Armenia’s Ambassador to the United States, Narek Mkrtchyan, and offered a collective prayer that the Embassy described as being for Armenia, the United States, and Trump himself.
Armenia’s Embassy in Washington initiated the meeting in cooperation with the White House Faith Office and called it historic. Paula White-Cain, head of the Faith Office and Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser, and Jennifer S. Korn, the office’s director, also took part.
The delegation covered all 4 Armenian Apostolic jurisdictions in the country. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, and Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, represented the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, and Archbishop Kegham Khacherian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy, represented the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.
Bishop Mikael Mouradian attended as Armenian Catholic Eparch for the United States and Canada, and Reverend Henrik Shahnazaryan as Senior Pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America.
The participants exchanged views on relations between Armenia and the United States, the Christian and civilizational ties between the two peoples, religious freedom, and efforts toward peace and stability, the Embassy said. They stressed the need to establish peace and strengthen mutual understanding between peoples, and the importance of faith and spiritual values in that process.
The clergy asked God’s blessing on the well-being and future of the peoples of Armenia and the United States and on friendship between the 2 countries. Their prayer also addressed the peace effort, with the Embassy emphasizing Trump’s contribution to what it called the peace established in Armenia.
