On November 29, 2016, His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph was honored along with the recently appointed Syriac Archbishop John Kawak, in an ecumenical gathering at the St. Vartan Armenian Orthodox Cathedral in New York City. The gathering, hosted by His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), celebrated the occasion of the enthronements of Metropolitan Joseph and Archbishop John; due to scheduling issues, the event had been postponed several times.
Hierarchs and clergy from throughout the New York area were present, including: His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America; Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Papal Nuncio to the United Nations; Maronite Bishop Gregory Mansour, and many others from various Christian faith communities.
As the gathering began, Metropolitan Joseph presented Archbishop Khajag with an engolpion (a bishop's medallion), and thanked him for his hospitality. Archbishop Khajag then welcomed everyone and presented a beautiful introduction of both honorees. Metropolitan Joseph responded saying that he was grateful to meet everyone and to fellowship together. He stressed that everyone present had a duty to come together as often as possible to work on common issues that our country is facing, giving our input as a Christian witness to our nation in general and our government in particular. He said he hoped this would be the first of many such gatherings. In closing, he invited all the attendees to the Archdiocese headquarters in January, when he will be hosting a lunch to honor His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop for the Archdiocese of New York (Roman Catholic) .
Archbishop Khajag then presented the two honorees with beautiful icons from Armenia, and proceeded to invite other guests to offer a few words during the remainder of the lunch.