The Information Services department was founded in December of 1994 at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Originally named the Press Service, the department was created by His Beatitude Archibishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, while serving as Locum Tenens of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The activities of the department were to create and distribute press releases for the Mother See.
The department began with two employees: a Senior Official and a Translator. The first Senior Official of the department was Mr. Apkar Apinian. In 2000, under the leadership and guidance of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, the department was reorganized and renamed Information Services. The staff was expanded and the first director was appointed, Mr. Arshavir Gabujian. The current director is the Reverend Father Vahram Melikian who oversees a staff of translators, writers and photographers.
The primary purpose of Information Services is to provide the mass media, in Armenia and the Diaspora, with comprehensive information concerning the activities of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, and the Armenian Church (News).
Today Information Services prepares and distributes reports in Armenian, English and French to 200 mass media worldwide. Press releases are also circulated to all Dioceses of the Armenian Church, national organizations of the Diaspora and individual subscribers. In addition to supplying news, the department conducts religious training sessions for journalists.
In 2000 Information Services began publishing a quarterly newsletter in English "Mother See". The newsletter was created for the purpose of presenting the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, its historical mission and current activities to English-speaking Armenians outside of Armenia, to Ambassadors and representatives of foreign embassies and representatives of international organizations operating within Armenia, to heads of sister and foreign churches and to primates of the Armenian Church and through them to their parishes. The information normally distributed through the newsletter now appears on the website and as of 2006, the newsletter publication was suspended.
The Information Services Department plans to expand its products and services in the future with an electronic newsletter.