Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On March 1st, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; a defense of doctoral thesis was held in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Rev. Fr. Yeremia Abgaryan, a member of the Brotherhood of Mother See, defended his thesis titled: “Canonical-Church Perceptions of Priesthood and Priesthood-activity in Ancient Armenia, according to the “Book of Canons of Armenia”.

Chairman of the Examination Committee was His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Primate of the Diocese of Tavoush. The panel committee members were His Grace Bishop Mikael Ajapahyan, Primate of the Diocese of Shirak; His Grace Bishop Anoushavan Jamkochian, Spiritual Dean of St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Church in Yerevan and Dean of the YSU Faculty of Theology; and His Grace Bishop Gevork Saroyan, Dean of the spiritual and educational institutions of the Mother See.

At the opening of the defense, Bishop Bagrat, Chairman of the Committee; welcomed the guests. Mr. Hakob Keoseyan, presented a review on the thesis. Then Father Yeremia presented his Doctoral Thesis and the factuality of the chosen topic, answering the questions of the committee members and attendees.

At the conclusion of the presentation of the thesis, the review commission accepted the defense and approved to grant Rev. Fr. Yeremia Abgaryan the rank of Senior Archimandrite.

Attending the Doctoral Thesis were members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See, students of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary, and guests.

With the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Father Yeremia will receive the rank of Senior Archimandrite. The service will be held in the St. Mesrop Mashtots Church of Oshakan, in the nearest future.