New York, New York – A special luncheon in honor of SCOOCH Vice-Chairman H.E. Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, was hosted by SCOOCH Chairman Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in the USA, at the St. Vartan Armenian Orthodox Cathedral and the Headquarters of the Archdiocese in New York. As the Lord would have it, the luncheon roughly coincided with the feast of St. Aphrem on the Syriac Orthodox calendar, and with the anniversary of His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem’s arrival in North America after as his consecration as Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar to the Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States, by His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I Iwas in 1996.
Archbishop Khajag expressed the strong support of the Armenian Church and the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches for His Holiness and the Syriac Orthodox Church in this present time of crises. His Holiness, in turn, thanked Archbishop Khajag and the assembled clergy and laity, which included not only SCOOCH personnel, but also the hierarchs of the local Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic jurisdictions. In addition to His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II and H.E. Archbishop Khajag, the hierarchs in attendance were:
+H.G. Anba David (Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York & New England)
+H.E. Archbishop Demetrios (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
+H.E. Mor Dionysios Jean Kawak (Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of the Eastern USA)
+H.B. Metropolitan Tikhon (Orthodox Church in America)
+H.G. Bishop Irenej (Serbian Orthodox Church)
+H.E. Mor Titus Yeldho (Malankara Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church)
+H.G. Abune Makarios (Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Archdiocese of North America)
+H.E. Mor Silvanos Ayub (Knanaya Archdiocese of Europe and America)
+H.G. Anba Karas (Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America)
+H.G. Bishop Gregory Mansour (Maronite Eparchy of Brooklyn)
+H.E. Archbishop Vicken Aykazian (Armenian Apostolic Church)