Director Artak Avetyan

The author of the program series “In the Pavilion”, prose writer Hovhannes Yeranyan and the director of the Matenadaran and Publishing Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Father Ararat Poghosyan, will discuss the relationship between the Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian history, and Armenian culture in the coming months. The topic of the first program is the persecution and violence against the Armenian Church during the Soviet Atheism. How was the church able to emerge victorious from that difficult situation, and what does it remind us of today?

Printing was first introduced to Armenia by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The printing press at that time was huge and it was impossible to transport it to Armenia. That is why the first Armenian book, Urbatagirk, was printed in Venice by Hakob Meghapart.

The influence of Catholicos Vazgen I on the prosperity of the Seminary was great. In 1945-51, the Seminary had 35 students, of whom only 6 managed to graduate. In the first years of Vazgen I’s Catholicosate, only 60 students arrived from the Diaspora. Vazgen I did everything to ensure that the Church became one of the most effective bridges uniting Armenia and the Diaspora.

The Pope calls on King Hetum II of Cilicia to adopt the Catholic faith and unite the two churches. As a result, the Armenian King of Cilicia had to receive the approval of the Pope, and the Armenian Apostolic Church had to make painful concessions. This agenda is opposed by the Catholicos of Constantinople, Constantine II. King Hetum II accuses the Catholicos of worldly living. High-ranking clergy appear, who express their readiness to oppose the Catholicos. A council is convened in the capital, Sis, where they decide to remove the Catholicos from the throne and imprison him. 3 years later, the Mamluks of Egypt capture the Catholicosate of Rome and, with the support of the King, capture the new Catholicos, who has ascended to the throne, and take him to Egypt, where he dies.

The issue of unifying the Armenian Apostolic Church with the Byzantine Catholic Church was particularly acute in the region of Cilician Armenia. Nerses Shnorhali sent a letter to the Vardapets located in the territory of Armenia itself, because their opinion should be taken into account in making a decision. Nerses Shnorhali was in favor of dialogue between the two churches, but he was never in favor of the unification of the churches. Later, the Catholicos and the kings of Cilicia deliberately sent such letters to the Vardapets in order to show their justifications in the West as a reason for rejecting the unification of the churches.

The Armenian Apostolic Church considered martyrdom for the homeland a sacred act as early as the 4th century. In other words, Christianity affirms that the homeland is a sacred living space. Vrtanes, the son of Gregory the Illuminator, was the first to establish a rule by which martyrdom for the homeland was equated with martyrdom for the faith.

Writer Hovhannes Yeranyan tells about the activities of sculptor and painter Ara Sargsyan. At a young age, he was involved in the NEMESIS operation and discovered the former Turkish prime minister in Italy, after whom the program participants killed him, Ara Sargsyan left for Vienna to study. In reality, it was a business trip to discover the leaders of the Young Turks in Germany.

Writer Hovhannes Yeranyan tells about the path of actress Hasmik Papyan. She was the first actress to be awarded the title of People's Artist. She was also the first female deputy of the Supreme Council. Yeghishe Charents dedicated a poem to her on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of her activities.