On Tuesday, July 30th, a Christian-Muslim Summit was held at the Druze headquarters, in Beirut. His Holiness Aram I was present at the Summit accompanied by the Prelate of the Armenian Prelacy of Lebanon Archbishop Nareg Alemezian. The Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Naim Hassan delivered the opening remarks underlining that maintaining the inner unity…
On Monday evening, July 29th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I decorated artist Krikor Agopian with the âSt. Mesrob Mashdotsâ insignia, during a special ceremony held at the auditorium of the Armenian Theological Seminary, in Bikfaya. Addressing the artist in the special Encyclical issued on the occasion, His Holiness states that Agopian is a prominent…
On Friday, July 26th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received Dr. Rev. Najla Kassab, President of World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), accompanied by Rev. Megerditch Karageozian, President of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East. Â The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the current situation of the Ecumenical movement, especially…
On July 12, 2019, His Holiness Aram I met with the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Dr. Nadia El Cheikh, and Dr. Ohannes Geukjian, from AUBâs Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, to discuss the establishment of a $1 million endowed fund for Armenian…
On Friday, July 26th, 2019, a delegation representing the Druze sect visited His Holiness Aram I and extended to His Holiness an invitation on behalf of Sheikh Aql Druze Sheikh Naim Hassan for the Christian-Muslim Summit to be held on the coming Tuesday. Â During the meeting, the delegation expressed appreciation of the efforts of…
16th to 19th of July, 2019, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) held its annual executive committee meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian participated at this meeting on behalf of the Catholicosate of Cilicia. Â The meetings commenced with prayers and the moderator of CCA Archbishop Dr. Willem T.P Simarmataâs opening address. Consequently,…
On Wednesday evening, July 24th, 2019, the committee of the Lebanese Forces visited His Holiness Aram I. After extending the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geageaâs greetings and his respects to the Lebanese Armenian Community, the committee briefed the Catholicos the recent unfolding situation in Lebanon and informed him their stance. They also discussed the current…
On Friday, July 19th, 2019, Dr. Avedis Dakessian, Representative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party. They discussed issues pertaining the Armenia-Diaspora relations and matters concerning the party. Moreover, Dr. Dakessian briefed His Holiness the decisions taken at the Partyâs General Assembly and presented him their forthcoming activities on behalf of the…
On Thursday morning, July 18th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I commended the accomplishments of In Defense of Christians (IDC) team in Washington in his speech addressing Toufiq Baaklini, president and chair of IDC. Â Â On the previous day, by the initiative of In Defense of Christians, an ecumenical prayer service was held at the…
On Monday, July 15th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received a delegation of artists from the Republic of Armenia who took part in a summer festival in Bikfaya, under the title âCharming Armenia in Bikfaya.â Â The artists and His Holiness talked about the importance of the Armenian culture in maintaining the Armenian identity. His…
Vahagn Atabekyan, the ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Lebanon, visits His Holiness Aram I, in his summer residence in Bikfaya. The visit was an opportunity to evaluate the Pan-Armenian Conference on Armenian Media and Press, which took place the previous week. They both emphasized that the significance of the conference lied in…
On the evening of Friday, July 12th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I delivered a lecture to a group of young representatives of Middle East Churches from the Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East. The lecture entitled âThe Church in the Current world.â Â His Holiness talked about the church as the Christâs body and underlined…
Friday, June 28th, 2019 became a significant date for His Holiness Aram I, because it is the day that the Catholicos took the risk and crossed the border to the Northern Cyprus, occupied by Turkey, and paid a visit to  the Armenian historical and spiritual centers. Accompanied by Archbishop Khoren Doghramajian, Catholicosal Vicar in…
Renovations for the âCiliciaâ Museum of the Catholicosate of Cilicia commenced. Upon the request of His Holiness Aram I, Mr. Garo Eshkiyan, chair of the executive council of the Western Prelacy, will be sponsoring the renovation. Note that the restoration process will take around two months during which the Museum will not be open for…
On Monday, July 8th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received, in Bikfaya, the committees of the three Lebanese Armenian dance troupes: âArekâ from âNor Serountâ Cultural Association, âKnarâ from Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society and âArinâ from Armenian General Benevolent Union â Armenian Youth Association. Â These three dance troupes had performed together in an…
On Tuesday, July 9th, 2019, the newly formed committee of the âShnorhaliâ choir of the Catholicosate of Cilicia met with His Holiness Aram I, in his summer residence in Bikfaya. The committee was headed by the conductor Rev. Fr. Zaven Najarian. Â The Catholicos saluted the visit and commended the achievements of the choir under…
On Tuesday, July 9th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received the committee of the Compatriotic Union of Hadjin in Lebanon and the commission of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Hadjin. The visitors consisted of  Paul Yacoubian, Aram Malian, Jirayr Tanielian, Dr. Antranig Dakessian and Haig Oghoulloukian.    The aim of the visit…
On Saturday, July 6th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received Krikor Mahseredjian, the co-chair of the Central Council of the National General Assembly. During the meeting, they discussed matters pertaining the mission of the Catholicosate, and projects of the prelacies in United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Â Â Based in Abu Dhabi, Mahseredjian is an…
On Friday, July 5th, 2019, His Holiness Aram I received Rev. Krikor Youmoushakian and Dr. William Emilson. Rev. Youmoushakian talked about the Armenian Community in Australia and issues concerning the ecumenical relations. Dr. Emilson talked about matters pertaining theological and Christian-Muslim relations. Greeting their visit, the Catholicos focused on the imperative of inter-church collaborations…
On Friday, July 5th, 2019, a meeting was held in Bikfaya between His Holiness Aram I and the Central Committee of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, consisted of Yervant Azadian, Hagop Vartivarian, Dr. Hratch Kouyoumjian and Ardavazt Melkisetegian. The former three had participated in the Pan-Armenian Conference on Armenian Media and Press, organized by and…
On Wednesday, July 3rd, His Holiness Aram I sent a letter of condolence to Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah, over the death of his son, Sheikh Khaled bin Sultan Al-Qasimi. In his letter, the Catholicos expresses his sorrow, and prays God to bless and strengthen the family and friends through this difficult…
Organized by the Information and Communication Department of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, an Armenian Culture Dance Night took place on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019, at 8:00pm, at the vicinity of St. Mary Monastery in Bikfaya. The dance troupes of the three Lebanese Armenian cultural associations: âArekâ from Nor Serount, âKnarâ from Hamazkayin and âArinâ…
