PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: ktrij@etchmiadzin.am
October 12, 2004

Holy Etchmiadzin Ordains an Unprecedented Nineteen New Priests

Sunday, October 10, was a joyous day in the life of the Armenian
Church. During the celebration of Divine Liturgy, the vast St. Gregory
the Illuminator Mother Cathedral of Yerevan was filled with faithful,
family and friends, as nineteen deacons of the Armenian Church
were anointed and ordained into the Holy Order of Priesthood by
His Grace Bishop Arshak Khatchatrian, Chancellor of the Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness, Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during this unprecedented
historic event. This marked the first occasion in memory that so many
faithful sons of the Armenian Church were ordained to the priesthood
at one time. In order to accommodate this large number of ordinates,
the ordination service was moved from the Mother Cathedral of Holy
Etchmiadzin to St. Gregory. Six of the deacons are graduates of the
Gevorkian Theological Seminary, one is a graduate of the St. James
Theological Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and
twelve are the first graduates from the Accelerated Academic Course
for the Priesthood, under the auspices of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin.

The Accelerated Academic Course for the Priesthood was a new
program instituted by His Holiness more than two years ago to select
individuals with higher educations who wished to bring their service
to the Armenian Church and Nation as priests. The Course had strict
and difficult entrance requirements: The candidates must have the
recommendation of their Diocesan Primates, a minimum of a bachelors
degree from an institution of higher learning, and passed the entrance
and subsequent exams, maintaining exemplary grades throughout the two
and a half year program. The main target of the program was to reach
out to the rural villages and settlements that are in dire need of
priests. The first twelve graduates who became priests were among the
most highly educated of the students. Among them are an architect,
a physicist, a composer, a psychologist, an accountant, a historian,
scientists and instructors.

On the evening prior to the ordination, a public examination of the
candidates’ profession of faith was conducted in the Mother Cathedral
of Yerevan. The sponsoring priests testified for the spiritual and
religious training and virtues of the candidates. The candidates
unanimously rejected and anathematized the heretics and schismatics
and vowed to follow the true faith of Jesus Christ, the Apostles
and the Armenian Patriarchs. As a sign of their orthodox faith,
they recited the dogmatic creed of the Armenian Church, written by
St. Gregory of Datev, and vowed to remain faithful to the hierarchy
of the Armenian Church and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The following morning, during the Divine Liturgy, the candidates
ascended to the Holy Altar of the Cathedral with the recitation of
psalms. Rev. Fr. Vardan Navasardian, assistant to the Grand Sacristan
of the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, had organized a team of
deacons to assist their brothers in their vesting. After removing
their stoles from each individual deacon, they were placed back
around the ordinates necks, and turning westward to the faithful,
they raised their hands as a sign of their renunciation from secular
life and devotion to a spiritual one. The ordaining bishop anointed
the foreheads and palms of both hands of each new priest with Holy
Chrism (Muron) and gave them new names. The faithful present awaited
each new name in hushed yet eager anticipation.

Deacon Artur Hovhanissian became Father Aristakes;
Deacon Hovhannes Baghalian became Father Vrtanes;
Deacon Ararat Nurijanian became Father Husik;
Deacon Arman Shahnazarian became Father Nerses;
Deacon Mher Ghahramanian became Father Gyut;
Deacon Arman Simonian became Father Norayr;
Deacon Husik Hayrapetian became Father Babken;
Deacon Hovhannes Vahanian became Father Moushé;
Deacon Gagik Babayan became Father Mashtots;
Deacon Haik Petrosian became Father Ghazar;
Deacon Artur Sargisian became Father Smbat;
Deacon Artur Dravants became Father Matteos;
Deacon Arayik Mkrtchian became Father Manuel;
Deacon Vahan Andreasian became Father Tovmas;
Deacon Karlen Ghazarian became Father Arakel;
Deacon Vladimir Galsdian became Father Yeznik;
Deacon Garnik Arakelian became Father Simeon;
Deacon Hovhannes Sargisian became Father Pavstos;
Deacon Vachagan Babayan became Father Anania;

Following their anointing, His Grace Bishop Arshak presented the
chalice used to prepare Holy Communion to the newly ordained priests,
transferring to them the power and right to celebrate the Divine
Liturgy and distribute the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ to
the faithful. While the kiss of peace was joyfully being distributed
among the thousands of faithful, His Holiness Karekin II led the
procession of bishops, members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin,
and visiting clergy from a number of dioceses, as they ascended
the bema and conveyed their congratulations by kissing the anointed
foreheads and hands of the new priests. In attendance for the service
were Their Eminences Archbishop Datev Sarkissian and Archbishop David
Sahakian of the Mother See; Archbishop Grigoris Buniatian, Primate
of the Armenian Diocese of the Ukraine; Archbishop Mesrob Krikorian,
Pontifical Legate to Central Europe; His Grace Bishop Arakel Karamian,
Primate of the Diocese of Kotayk; Very Rev. Fr. Derenik Davitian,
Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Gegharkunik; Rev. Fr. Archpriest
Yeghishé Sargisian, Dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary;
Rev. Fr. Mkrtich Proshian, Dean of the Vaskenian Seminary of Lake
Sevan; members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin; visiting
Armenian priests from the United States and Europe; visiting clergymen
from sister Churches and denominations; deacons and seminarians.

Also in attendance for this special occasion were benefactors of the
Mother See, Mr. and Mrs. Haroutiun Arslanian, from Beirut, Lebanon,
as well as the “Holy Etchmiadzin Ladies Society” of Beirut, Lebanon.

In the afternoon, a banquet was held in honor of the new ordinates
in the Pontifical Residence, hosted by His Holiness the Catholicos
of All Armenians.

Following the traditional 40-day seclusion period of fasting, mediation
and prayer, the new priests will celebrate their inaugural Divine
Liturgies at churches throughout Armenia.

##