7 May 2016. On Friday evening, His Holiness presided over the Holy Liturgy at the Holy Martyrs, Church in Abu Dhabi, celebrated by Rev Torkom Donoyan. During the sermon, Rev Mesrob Sarkissian thanked His Holiness Aram I for his visit and invited him to address the people.

His Holiness spoke of the centrality of the Church and School for Armenian communities. He said, “The Armenian Church and the school complete each other. The Church provides spiritual enrichment and the school strengthens the foundations of the community.” He described the vocation of the Catholicosate of Cilicia as “journey of faith” manifested through service to the people and spoke of the key role of the seminary in preparing servants for the church and the community. He then praised the two priests, Mesrob and Torkom, noting that as young men they had responded to the call to service at the same time and were brothers by ordination.

At the end of the Church service, His Holiness greeted the people and blessed them and decorated Mr Vahé Toukhmanian with the insignia of ‘Knight of Cilicia’ for his service to the community and benevolent contributions to the construction fund of the church.