Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan
Primate of the Diocese of Gougark
Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan (baptismal name Arthur) was born in 1978, in Gyumri, Armenia.
From 1985 to 1993, he studied at the local secondary School № 28 after Petros Duryan.
From 1993 to 1997, he attended the Shirak Theological Academy.
From 1997 to 2003, he studied at the Gevorkian Theological Seminary.
On December 24, 2002, on the Feast Day of St. Stephen the Proto-Deacon, he was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Nerses Pozapalian, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
In 2003, by the Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; he was assigned the responsibility of overseeing the care and preservation of the buildings of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
On October 30, 2003, he successfully defended his thesis entitled “Radical Changes in the Armenian Liturgical Calendar made by Hovnan Odznetsi ”.
On November 23, 2003, he was ordained as a celibate priest by His Eminence Archbishop David Sahakyan, in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, and given the priestly name of Hovnan.
In 2004, he studied at the Institute of Eastern Churches in Germany, taking courses on the German language.
In 2006, he was appointed to serve as the Staff Bearer to His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
On December 20, 2008, he was appointed to serve as the Ritual Director for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, while also continuing his responsibilities as Staff Bearer to His Holiness.
On April 15, 2010, he successfully defended his doctrinal thesis on the topic of “The False Sect of the Tondrakians”.
On April 20, 2010, he received the rank of Archimandrite by His Grace Bishop Ararat Kaltakjian, in the St. Mesrop Mashtots Church of Oshakan. In the same year, Father Hovnan traveled to the USA to study at St. John University, St. Cloud Minnesota, taking courses on Theology.
On December 20, 2010, by the Pontifical Order of His Holiness, he was appointed to serve as the Acting Sacristan of the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.
On September 07, 2011, by the Pontifical Order of the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians; he was appointed to serve as the Grand Sacristan of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
On November 06, 2011, he was consecrated as a Bishop by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.
On December 21, 2020, by the Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; His Grace Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan, completing his service as the Grand Sacristan of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, was appointed to serve as the Primate of the Diocese of Gougark.
