Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On June 5, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of  All Armenians; the conference of the Members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See was commenced. Present at the conference were clergymen serving world-wide in the Dioceses and organizations of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (monks, archimandrites, Very Reverend Fathers). The Conference was also attended by representatives from the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, the Armenian Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople.

The Conference of the Brotherhood Members began with the Lord’s Prayer, following which opening remarks were made by conference organizer Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Garegin Hambardzumyan, Director of the Mission Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Expressing his joy on the occasion of the conference, Fr. Garegin also conveyed the love and blessings of the Catholicos of All Armenians to the Brotherhood members. Father Garegin emphasized that this conference is the best opportunity to jointly discuss the challenges facing the Armenian Church and find ways to overcome them.

The opening remarks were followed by the discussion of the conference agenda. The first session of the conference was led by Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Ruben Zargaryan, Spiritual Dean of Penitentiary institutions.

Proto-Archimandrite Zakaria Baghumyan, Director of the Christian Education Center of the Mother See, made a report on the following theme: "The Preaching and Spiritual-educational Mission of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Modern World-Visions and Challenges". Father Zakaria privately referred to the importance of the spiritual education of young people, their moral and national formation, ensuring spiritual security, the fight against sectarian movements, as well as increasing the effectiveness of education in spiritual educational institutions.

Following the presentation of the report, group discussions, exchanges of opinions, speeches and summaries took place, which were related to the steps aimed at the more effective implementation of the preaching activities of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.

During the six-day meeting, the members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will also discuss various challenges facing the Church and the Armenian people, and will listen to various reports. On June 6, participating Brotherhood members  of the Conference will visit Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex and "Yerablur" military pantheon. On June 7-8, they will go on a pastoral mission to various communities of Tavush and Gegharkunik dioceses, they will visit in particular the families of soldiers who died, wounded and disappeared in the 44-day Artsakh war and displaced from Artsakh.