An eventful week in one breath


The Church of the Holy Archangels, the seat of the Armenian Diocese of Romania, was reconsecrated after renovation.
On Sunday, the Armenian Congregation of Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of the Invention of the Cross according to the old calendar.
During the Liturgy, a ceremony of ordination and blessing of the sacrificial lamb was held in the Armenian Community of Mainz.

The meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council concluded


The Supreme Spiritual Council has strongly condemned the blatant illegal encroachments and oppression against the rights of the Church and clergy, the spread of hate speech and intolerance.
The Council reaffirmed the position of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to support the establishment of justice and protect the rights of the Church’s ministers and the faithful, once again calling on law enforcement agencies to stop illegal criminal proceedings and release the imprisoned clergy and civilians. The Council emphasized that steps are needed to restore the rights of the Mother See and the liturgical life in the Hovhanavank Monastery, protect the spiritual and canonical life of the faithful, and ensure the normal service of the clergy.
 

Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan presented the Armenian diaspora of Artsakh in Rome


At the traditional international conference for peace held in Rome, Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan reflected on the painful trials of the Armenians of Artsakh in recent years, as a result of which an entire people was displaced from the land of their ancestors, churches were damaged, cemeteries were desecrated, and the entire cultural heritage became vulnerable.

Father Taron Hunanyan has been defrocked


The basis for declaring Father Taron Hunanyan as a deposed priest was the report of the Vicar General of the Tavush Diocese and the conclusion of the Commission for the Awarding of Awards and Disciplinary Issues of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. He voluntarily left his place of service in May 2024, ignored the exhortations and instructions of the Vicar General of the Tavush Diocese and persisted in his disorderly conduct, participated in the anti-canonical ceremony organized by Stepan Asatryan, who was declared disorderly, becoming an accomplice to the deposed one, discredited the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and fellow clergymen with public speeches and statements, displayed disrespectful behavior towards the highest church authority and violated the vow of obedience.

A concert of young musicians from Armenia took place in Cologne


Composer, graduate of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music in London, Arpine Kalinina, along with four talented students from her creative class, was invited to Germany by the Armenian Diocese of Germany for a concert tour. Her students, 15-year-old Artashes Mosikyan, 14-year-old Hayk Julhakyan, 11-year-old Artur Grigoryan, and 15-year-old Dalar Chichyan, studying at different educational institutions, are laureates and participants of various republican and international competitions and festivals as young composers. The young people performed with 3 concerts in Cologne, then in Bremen and Stuttgart.

Archbishop Gisak Muradyan passed away in Buenos Aires


His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the Congregation of Holy Etchmiadzin, and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed their condolences on the death of the Archbishop. The late Archbishop was one of the elder ministers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. For 32 years, he was the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Argentina and Chile. He was born in 1951 in Aleppo. He studied at the Seminary and the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In 1963, he was ordained a deacon, and in 1971, he was ordained a priest. In 1975, he left for Argentina as the spiritual pastor of Buenos Aires, where he simultaneously taught, teaching the Armenian language, history of the Armenian people, and religious and ecclesiastical subjects. In 1975, he received the four degrees of vardapet from Patriarch Yeghishe.

Treasures Returning: A Fine Art Collection


The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is not only a spiritual center, but also an exceptional repository of works of art. The painting collection of the Mother See was formed during the reign of Hovhannes VIII Karbetsi, at the beginning of the 19th century, and with the patronage and efforts of His Holiness Karekin II, it was replenished with 436 cultural values. The painting collection of the Mother See was replenished not only with works of Armenian classical, but also with works of contemporary artists.

The Return of Treasures: Antique Books


On the direct initiative of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the Karekin I Educational Center was established, based on the personal book collections of Catholicos Vazgen I, Karekin I, and Karekin II. The antiquarian collection was formed in parallel with the collection that already existed in the Mother See. Currently, there are two collections of antiquarian books in Holy Etchmiadzin. In total, before the enthronement of His Holiness the Patriarch, the Mother See had approximately 2,000 units of antiquarian literature. Over the past 25 years, the two collections have been replenished with approximately 960 units.
In 2021, the Matenadaran was established in the Mother See. A magnificent new building was built under the direction of His Holiness Karekin II. The two-story building houses the book depositories and auxiliary rooms, the administrative part, the reading room, including the reading room for antiquarian books. The collection of antiquities kept in the Matenadaran of the Mother See has 703 specimens, 620 of which arrived in Etchmiadzin during the reign of Catholicos Karekin II.
 

The Return of Treasures: Manuscripts


The manuscript collection of Holy Etchmiadzin has been replenished with 123 manuscripts through the efforts of Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. Now the manuscript collection of the Mother See is the second largest in Armenia after the Mashtotsyan Matenadaran. After the renovation of the Holy See, special cabinets were installed by special order of His Holiness, where the manuscripts of the Mother See are carefully collected. They are not only kept in the manuscript collection, but also exhibited in the museums of the Mother See, participating in exhibitions taking place in Armenia and the Diaspora.

Return of the treasures


Through the mediation and administration of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, 32 reliquaries have been brought to Holy Etchmiadzin in the last quarter of a century: right-shaped, cross-reliquaries, and reliquary vaults. They contain relics of the Armenian Apostolic Church and pan-Christian saints. In 25 years, the treasury of the Mother See's relics has been enriched with rare and exclusive relics.

The church in the village of Lori, Syunik, was reconsecrated on the feast of St. George


The consecration ceremony was performed by Bishop Makar Hakobyan, Primate of the Syunik Diocese, with the participation of the clergy of the diocese. His Holiness consecrated the Holy Altar, the baptismal font, and the columns of the church. Bishop Makar also celebrated the first liturgy in the reconsecrated sanctuary. St. Gevorg of Lori is a three-nave basilica, built in the 17th century. The only entrance door has a frame of polished stone decorated with arches.

The first exhibition with the Louvre Museum opened at the History Museum


16 masterpieces of medieval spiritual art have been brought from the Louvre to the History Museum of Armenia. They are displayed alongside about 20 exhibits from the History Museum, one of which is on loan from the treasures of Holy Etchmiadzin. The silver reliquary of the Apostle Bartholomew, made in Van in the tenth century. The reliquary contains the relic of the Apostle Bartholomew, one of the first enlighteners of Armenia. The general theme is: Sacred Dialogue. From the Louvre to the History Museum of Armenia.