On April 12, H.E. Karekin the Second Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians received in Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin about 650 church-loving young people who came to Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin on pilgrimage from various dioceses of Armenia under the guidance of their spiritual pastors.

The meeting began with the Lord’s Prayer and the Patriarchal hymn. Then the spiritual inspector of HEHEM and the director of the Central Office, His Holiness Fr. Reverend Tovma Khachatryan introduced the pilgrim Armenians to His Holiness, noting that the young people visited the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to participate in the Holy Liturgy and receive the paternal blessing of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

Reverend Fr. Makar priest Galamdaryan (Diocese of Shirak). In his speech, the Father emphasized that in response to the wishes of the youth, the priest fathers responsible for the Youth Unions organized this pilgrimage to the Mother See to renew their vows, strengthen their faith and continue their lives with the blessing of Saint Etchmiadzin as faithful children of the Mother Church.

Elder Goharik Galtagazyan from Shirak Diocese, Naira Davtyan from Aragatsotni Diocese, Maria Atanesyan from Syunyats Diocese, Mane Mnatsakanyan from Masyatsotni Diocese and Sargis Galstyan from Gugarats Diocese spoke on behalf of the young people.

Then the Catholicos of All Armenians delivered his patriarchal message and blessing to those present.

“Our beloved children,

We welcome you to the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin and bring you all Our Patriarchal love and blessing. Our soul is happy that on these soul-restoring days of Easter, you gathered at the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin, showing your filial love and dedication to the Armenian Church.

Since the apostolic times, our Holy Church has been a bright beacon in the life of our people, establishing its children in faith and hope and leading them to God, to the good and the true. The Armenian Church is the spiritual home of our people, where every Armenian finds love, care and concern and is strengthened by heavenly graces and blessings. Whoever wants to know the soul of the Armenian people should look at the Armenian Church. Our Church has given strength to the aspirations of its children to live and create and to the desires of peace and justice. Our Church has given strength to love the nation and homeland and faithful to its mission, it has preserved and enriched our spiritual and cultural heritage, pursued the education of a new generation of Armenians. Our Church, with its strong Christian values, has become a pillar of unity for Armenians around the world, leading its flock both in peaceful days and in times of trials.

On the way of this mission, our Holy Apostolic Church often faced various obstacles and difficulties. Even today, we have an undesirable situation, when the Church in our native country is targeted by the representatives of the government. In the last year, we have witnessed unprecedented pressures: illegal arrests of bishops, artificial obstacles to the implementation of spiritual ministry, attempts to seize our ancient monasteries and churches. The person who was released from the position of leader of the Masyatsotni Diocese with the apparent patronage of the authorities and declared disorganized, continues to occupy the presbytery and the illegal decisions of the court and the enforcement service, acting as a diocesan leader in a secular capacity. Recently, we also witnessed another unconstitutional step, when the ruling political force included objectionable provisions regarding the Armenian Church in its pre-election program. All this, as you well know, is accompanied by fabricated accusations, incitement of intolerance, open threats.

However, history testifies that our Church has always overcome all trials by relying on God. Even today, the Armenian Church remains a zealous servant of our national rise, an unfaithful supporter of the strengthening of our country, public solidarity, and will continue to protect our national rights, aspirations and goals.

Beloved ones, one of the important priorities in the achievement of the mission of our Holy Church is the active involvement of you, the young generation, in church life. For this purpose, the youth associations created around our churches consistently implement various programs and initiatives, which aim to strengthen and deepen the connection of the new generation with our Mother Church. You and your peers are the guarantors of the strengthening of our motherland, the brightness of our Holy Church and the bright future of our people. Keep your attachment to the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church strong and accept its centuries-sanctified teachings as a guide for you to be independent, worthy and strong individuals. Love the Fatherland, our Holy Church, be pious believers and law-abiding citizens.

Patriarchal We bring you our love and blessing for your warm faith and dedication to the church. We wish you all the best and ask that the Almighty God bless your journey, grant you unshakable and inexhaustible faith, hope and love and strengthen you in all good endeavors.

We express our high appreciation to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for organizing this pilgrimage to the director of the central office of the Youth Organization of the Armenian Church. Reverend Tovma Khachatryan, priest fathers responsible for youth unions of dioceses, members of administrative councils and chairmen.

It is our fatherly message to you that you continue to invest your efforts with the same zeal to make the activities of youth associations more vibrant and lively with new initiatives, for the strengthening of our Motherland, for the brightness of our Holy Church and for the welfare of our Christ-loving people.

May the graces, love and peace of the Lord always accompany the Armenians of my nation in our homeland and in the Diaspora. every.”

After the blessing speech, the Catholicos of All Armenians also answered the questions of the young people, which were related to the youth programs of the Armenian Church, pastoral activities and the mission of the Church in favor of the involvement of young people.

The meeting ended with the “Protector” prayer, after which the young people participated in the Holy and Immortal Liturgy in the Mother Church of Miatsnaej.

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