Supreme Spiritual Council in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On June 23, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; the regular meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council was held in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The Catholicos of All Armenians offered his blessings to the Council members, also welcoming the presence of His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. His Holiness highlighted that the meeting was convened taking into consideration that His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian was visiting the Mother See to discuss the issues requiring urgent decisions concerning the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, as well as matters regarding the activities of the Dioceses and organizations of the Armenian Church. His Holiness Karekin II invited the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem to chair the meeting.

During the meeting His Grace Bishop Arshak Kachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See; and His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Direcotor of the Office on Ecclesiastical Liturgical Issues of the Mother See; presented their reports regarding the canonization of the Armenian Genocide martyrs and the process of the preparatory works for the service of the Blessing of the Holy Muron. Following the presentation of the reports, the Supreme Spiritual Council expressed their appreciation to the Canonization and Blessing of Holy Muron committees, and the Office of Ecclesiastical Liturgical Issues for their efforts.

A decision was made to hold the service of the Blessing of the Holy Muron on September 27, 2015, on the Feast Day of the Holy Cross of Varag. The Catholicos of All Armenians gave an assignment to the committees to commit themselves to properly organizing the events.

His Grace Bishop Vasken Mirzakhanyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, presented a report on the issues concerning the Diocese. Reflecting on diocesan life, the members expressed their appreciation to Bishop Vasken and the clergy of the diocese for their devoted efforts directed at the defense of the rights of the Armenian Church and the Armenian community in Georgia, and the reinforcement of religious life.

His Grace Bishop Gevork Saroyan, Dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary and Rector of all Religious Educational Institutions of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; presented a report on the religious educational Institutions of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, discussing the process of training the clergy, recruiting, and admitting of new students. Emphasizing the imperative of training a sufficient number of clergymen for meeting the spiritual needs of the Armenians dispersed throughout the Diaspora, the Supreme Spiritual Council decided to establish a special office in the Gevorkian Theological Seminary for recruiting applicants to the religious educational institutions. Bishop Gevork was assigned to prepare informational information and brochures. A task was given to all those responsible for the religious educational institutions of the Hierarchical Sees to jointly develop a project to publicize the important missions and activities of the seminaries in the dioceses and communities, which will encourage youth to continue their education in the seminaries, and bring their service to the Armenian Church in the future.

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