Defense of Doctoral Thesis in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (English text below)
03.12.2018
On December 3, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, a defense of doctoral thesis was held in the ‘Vatche and Tamar Manookian’ Library of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
For the ecclesiastical degree of Archimandrite (Vardapet), two members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin presented their theses.
Rev. Fr. Andranik Gevorkian, spiritual pastor of Sweden, defended his thesis on: “The 4th century tertiological schisms and the Armenian Church (according to early patriotic and doctrinal literature); and Rev. Fr. Movses Sargsyan, Manager of the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Calcutta, defended his thesis on: “The theory of fair war”.
The committee members were His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, Primate of the Diocese of Tavoush (Chairman of the committee); Rev. Fr. Michael Ajapahian, Primate of the Diocese of Shirak; His Grace Bishop Anushavan Jamkochyan, Dean of the Theological Faculty of Yerevan State University and Dean of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan; His Grace Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, Primate of the Diocese of Aragatsotn; and His Grace Bishop Gevork Saroyan, Dean of the Spiritual and Educational Institutions of the Mother See.
The cross-examiner of the oral defense for Father Andranik was Associate Professor Pargev Barseghyan; and Fr. Movses’s cross-examiner was Dr. Hakob Keoseyan.
In turn, Fr. Andranik and Fr. Movses presented their theses and answered the questions of the Committee members and attendees.
Following the presentation of the theses, the review commission accepted the defenses and approved to grant the priests the rank of Archimandrite.
