Rank of Archimandrite Bestowed in Oshakan
On March 26, the service of bestowing the rank of Archimandrite (Vardapet) was offered at the St. Mesrop Mashtots Church in Oshakan. Rev. Fr. Mesrop Barsamian, Brotherhood Member and Vice Chancellor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, received the rank of Archimandrite by His Grace Bishop Anushavan Zhamkochian, Spiritual pastor of the Mother Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Yerevan. Recently, Father Mesrop successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Being God" the three phases of the divinization of a man according to the doctrine of St. Nerses the Graceful".
Starting April 1, 2011, Very Rev. Fr. Mesrop will take on new responsibilities. According to a decision made by the Supreme Spiritual Council, at their most recent meeting held from March 17 to 19 in the Mother See, Fr. Mesrop has been appointed to serve as Locum Tenens of the Armenian Diocese of Switzerland and Spiritual pastor to the Armenian community in Geneva. Since 1992, the Locum Tenens of the Armenian Diocese of Switzerland has contributed to the organization of Diocesan life. The Armenian Diocese of Switzerland was established by His Holiness Vasken I of Blessed memory in 1992.
