The General Assembly of the Brotherhood of Sts. James held its fifteenth session on September 24, 2025, at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, focusing exclusively on the controversial lease of the “Cows’ Garden (Armenian Garden)” property.
The meeting, chaired by His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, opened with prayer and was attended by 28 members of the Brotherhood. In his opening remarks, Archbishop Manougian urged the clergy “to remain faithfully attached to the Holy See with unwavering love and fraternal solidarity, and to face all challenges together in unity.”
During the sessions, the Patriarchate’s Director of Real Estate, Bishop Koryun Baghdasaryan, along with the legal counsel, presented a detailed account of the 2021 lease agreement, subsequent court proceedings, and a proposed Settlement and Addendum introduced through mediation. After extensive discussions, the Assembly overwhelmingly decided to reject the Addendum and reaffirm its exclusive canonical authority over the matter.
By majority vote, the Brotherhood:
- Reaffirmed its previous declarations of October 27 and November 15, 2021, condemning the 2021 transaction as illegal.
- Declared the July 8, 2021 lease agreement concerning the “Cows’ Garden” property illegal, uncanonical, and null and void, as it was signed without the General Assembly’s approval.
- Rejected the proposed Addendum and Settlement Agreement reached through mediation.
- Appointed a committee of five clergymen to work with legal counsel to continue the cancellation lawsuit against “Xana Gardens” Ltd.
