Summary Report of the Activities of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for 2019
10.03.2020
1. Pontifical Receptions
During the last year, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, had more than 120 official meetings with high ranking ecclesiastical and state delegations, national, public and cultural figures.
2. Pontifical Encyclical, Letters of Blessings
In 2019, 41 Pontifical Encyclical was published, due to 4 of which, His Eminence Archbishop Movses Mosvsisian; His Eminence Archbishop Sion Adamian; His Eminence Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian; His Eminence Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan; were consecrated as Bishops, and 5 Encyclicals were used for the awards of “St. Gregory the Illuminator” Medals, 7 for “St. Sahak-St. Mesrop” Medals, 25 for "St. Nerses the Gracious" Medals.
73 Letters of Blessings were awarded, speeches were delivered on the occasions of national and state holidays, inter-church meetings and a number of ceremonies, events and conferences.
3. The Clergy and The Staff
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has 743 clergymen, 52 Archbishops and Bishops, 53 Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, 23 monks, 479 priests and 136 deacons. Last year 1 priest and 1 deacon ordinations were held, during which 12 married priests and 26 deacons were ordained. A service of bestowing a rank of Very Reverend Father was also offered.
In 2019, the number of the Brotherhood members of the Mother See studying abroad increased with one member: Rev. Fr. Vache Mkrtchyan departed for Italy to learn Ecclesiastical Law at Pope’s Eastern Institute of Rome.
According to the data of 2019, 1194 people worked at sections and subsection of the Mother See.
4. Spiritual-Educational Institutions
A total number of 138 students study at the spiritual-educational institutions of the Mother See, 90 students of which study at Gevorkian Theological Seminary, 38 students at Vaskenian Theological Academy of Lake Sevan, 16 ones at Harijavank Trpanchyan High School, 9 ones at Priest Accelerated Course.
5. Educational Activities
In 2019, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin continued to implement a comprehensive educational mission in various spheres of our national life.
a. Public Education sphere
The Christian Education Center (CEC) continued its activities in the fields of pre-school, secondary and Sunday education during the last year, paying particular attention to the teaching of the Armenian Church History.
To increase the teachers’ qualification, 17 workshops were organized concerning the confession, advices, holidays and pious habits of the Armenian Church. With the Bible Society of Armenia, Bible quizzes were held and the phases of regional and national Olympiad of the Armenian Church History were organized at schools. With the initiative of CEC, almost all the schools of RA celebrated the 150th anniversary of Archimandrite Komitas, the 150th aniiversary of Hovhannes Tumanyan, and the 100th anniversary of Gevorg Emin. Books and notebooks of 2-4 grade students were also published due to the funds of the Mother See.
In 2019, 501 pupils studied at 34 classrooms at Eurnekian Public School of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. 47 children at the age of 3-5 years old attended Eurnekian Kindergarten.
During the Academic year of 2018-2019, 28 students studied at Harijavank Trpanchyan High School.
64 students (24 girls and 40 boys) studied at Armenian Philanthropic Seminary of Calcutta from Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Russia and India. In 2021, the Seminary is going to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its foundation, preoperational works of which are in process.
b. Youth Centers
The 7 Youth Centers (Etchmiadzin, Ashtarak, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Yerevan – Norq, Malatia and Arabkir) and the Miniature Art Center have an important place in the mission of the Mother See.
Various kinds of events, exhibitions, ensembles' solo concerts, ceremonies, competitions and other programs have been organized at Youth Centers, were almost 5000 children attend. The students performed different kinds of events dedicated to ecclesiastical and state holidays.
6. Preaching and Spiritual Care Mission
a. Preaching among the youth
Last year, the Pan-Armenian Church Youth Organization (ACYO), which unites the youth diocesan councils, organized a number of conferences, meetings and pilgrimages to various sanctuaries. The representatives of the orgaqnization participated in a variety of charitable and public events.
b. RA Armend Forces
69 chaplains – 1 Bishop, 16 Priests and 52 Deacons serve to the RA Armed Forces.
On the occasion of the Army Day, 8 military officers of the RA Armed Forces were awarded with St. Nerses the Gracious Medals of the Armenian Church, and 11 chaplains were awared with medals by the RA Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan.
In parallel to their spiritual service in the Army, the chaplains also put efforts to prevent the military units from unwanted relationships and phenomena.
c. Detention Institutions
11 clergymen – 1 Reverend Father, 9 Priests and 1 Deacon serve in the 12 RA Detention Institutions.
In these areas, works and assistance were provided not only to the convicts, but also to their families and former convicts. Separate works were also carried out with the staff of the institutions of the Investigative Committee.
d. Publishing House, Mass Media
To meet the needs of the faithful, the publishing Department of the Mother See carried out an effective preaching through the publishing the relevant literature. Last year, 27 books were published.
“Etchmiadzin” Monthly and “Christian Armenia” newspaper had been regularly published, as well as, propaganda had been done via the internet, TV and radio broadcasts, “Shoghakat” and “Luys” TV Channels.
Last year, 61.931 people visited the museums of the Mother See.
7. Social Services
Last year, the Social Services’ Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the relevant institutions of the Armenian and Artsakh dioceses implemented charitable and social programs for the amount of 558.211.581 AMD. Special attention was paid to the population in need: refugees, Syrian Armenians, Iraqi-Armenians, freedom fighters, families of dead soldiers, people with disabilities, orphans, the elderly, students and patients.
Last year, 24.050.000 AMD was provided to the Armenian Diocese of Lebanon to support the Armenians having difficulties in the stressful political situation of Lebanon. Assistance was also provided to the orphans and children living in the borders of RA, scholarships were provided to the students from the borderline villages.
Last year, a total number of 1663 families received financial assistance, and 6223 families received material support.
The 5 charitable canteens operating under the auspices of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and AGBU worked regularly, where 900 persons receive daily food till today.
“Medical Assistance to the Syrian-Armenians in need living in Armenia” program being implemented at Izmirlyan MC, is special among the charity programs, which benefits to 292 Syrian Armenians, and on the framework of the program “Palm Sunday in the Mother See”, a total number of 120 children from Day Care Center of Hrazdan Children Assistance Foundation visited the Mother See receiving the Blessings of the Pontiff of All Armenians. The Center also received financial assistance from the Mother See. 10 families having children suffering from brain disease also received financial assistance.
On the occasion of the Christmas, His Holiness visited the Hematology Center after Prof. R.Yeolyan to support the children suffering from blood leukemia and their families.
8. Monasteries and Diocese
St. Hripsime, St. Gayane, Khor Virap, St. Arakelots in Sevan and Geghard Monasteries, and St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Church in Yerevan, operate under the direct supervision of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
33 Dioceses and 3 Patriarchal Delegations operate in the canonical territories of the Chatolicosate of All Armenians. According to the data the dioceses provided, 650 churches and monasteries are operating in these canonical areas. There are 812 parishes and mission parishes operating, where there are 263 Sunday Schools, as well as, 75 women and 114 youth unions.
In 2019, the dioceses implemented a variety of spiritual-preaching, social, educational-cultural programs. The clerfymen visited orphanages, nursing homes, schools, hospitals, detention institutions, and the propaganda centers organized the Bible's courses, lectures, conferences, school and university events and spiritual thematic competitions, books and preaching flysheets were published.
Spiritual content broadcasts were made, official newspapers of the dioceses were published.
