G: How important is the 1700th Anniversary of Christianity becoming the Armenian State religion?

M.A: The 1700th anniversary is an important event for our church and nation. This is the first time that this anniversary gets an international attention since the adoption of Christianity as a state religion. After the recent independence of Armenia it is the first time since centuries that both the Armenian government and the church together are involved in celebrating the anniversary. This is the first step in the co-operation and understanding between the government and the church. It is an important undertaking for future work and co-operation.

G: How does the Armenian Government approach this issue?

M.A: The government has welcomed this event. As you know according to the late Vazken Catholicos’s wishes a church commission was created. He had invited Karekin Catholicos, then the Catholicos of Cilicia. With the input of the Patriarchs an outline of activities was created. Before the church committee started its work the government took the initiative to start the work. With an executive order a committee was formed whose head was the President of Armenia’s Constitutional Court, Mr. Kakig Harouteounian. The government formed a 24 member committee made up of ministers, parliament members, ambassadors, and other individuals who might be able to contribute in organizing the 1700th anniversary. This committee’s work was divided into 3 areas. It appointed supervisors to each area of work. The supervisor of the first area is Sam Arevshadian, department head of the research library; the supervisor of the second area is Mr. Kevorkian, the Minister of Culture; and the supervisor of the third area is Armen Smpatian. Each area or section has its own agenda and activities that include: publications, Public Relations, fine arts and other activities. One of the activities is the publication of the Bible’s scientific history, and the other is the publication of the research library’s hand written books from 989 AD These books have high artistic value. 280 copies will be reproduced like the original manuscripts to be sold for $3500 each. A popular book such as Akatankeghos will be published in different languages: Old Armenian, Modern Armenian, French, Russian, English and Arabic. There are also plans to produce films, audio cassettes, and operas and organize youth festivals. The recent political events in Armenia have slowed some of the work, but the government had allocated some funds for the upcoming events in its 1998 budget and has also allocated a total of $3 million to be spent in the next 3 years for the renovation of the Mother Church Echmiatsin.

G: For the 1700th anniversary celebration and for the other events pertaining to the anniversary what kinds of committees have been formed and with whose initiative and participation.

MA: I did mention the government’s committee. The church held its first meeting in September 1995 in Echmiatsin. The meeting was presided by Karekin I and Aram I Catholicoses and the chairpersons were the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem. Echmiatsin Catholicosate sent 12 delegates, Cilicia Catholicosate sent 8 delegates and the Patriarchies of Jerusalem and Constantinople sent 2 delegates each. Thus a 24 member committee was formed that became the Armenian Church’s Central Meeting which is the main legislative body. From this body 11 individuals were selected to become the executive body. In the body 6 members are from Echmiatsin Catholicosate 3 from Cilicia Catholicosate and one each from the Jerusalem and Constantinople Patriarchies. The executive body will meet 2 to 3 times a year so that it can plan and organize the activities for the 1700th anniversary. For the work to go smoothly an executive of operations was appointed and I was appointed as the executive secretary. I have been at this post for 2 years. Since the work requires a lot of time and dedication, before the election of the new Prelate, I will relinquish my post as the Prelate of Eastern US that I have been serving for the last 3 years. In Echmiatsin, the 1700th anniversary body has a central office with all the modern amenities.

G: What has been accomplished until now?

MA: The executive body has held several meetings and it has initiated many projects. The first part of the activities include the renovation of the churches and monasteries. We decided to renovate 38 monasteries and churches in the different regions in Armenia that include Arkadson, Armav, Godayk, Shirag, Kourkar, Kegharkouni, Suni, Ararat regions and 7 churches and monasteries in the Nagorno-Kharabagh region. Some of the churches will be re-christened according to their past historic names or their future role.

Many of the churches in the Diaspora will be also renovated. Aram I Catholicos had announced that the monastery of Tate will be renovated. We also plan to renovate churches and monasteries in Turkey such as Saint Giragos Church in Dikranagerd. This church falls in the list of churches that the Turkish government does not object to its renovation. The list of churches includes the monastery of Cilicia and the churches in Iskandaroun and Vakfi. We also hope to renovate the monastery in Pertoghimeos, which is on the border of Turkey and Iran.

• 1997 Romania-Armenia 14-28 August
• 1998 Lebanon-Armenia 25 March- 7 April
• France-Armenia 14-28 August
• 1999 Jerusalem-Armenia 7-27 April
• Turkey-Armenia 10-28 September
• 2000 Syria-Armenia 19 April- 4 March
• Iran-Armenia 3-17 August
• 2001 Khor Virab and Echmiatsin 1-17 June

So far the first 2 pilgrimages have been accomplished. Besides the mentioned events we will organize national and international exhibitions. The first exhibition occurred in the Kremlin last June and another one in Armenia. On April 2, 1998 a new exhibition opened in Athens. Besides the exhibitions there will be cultural and artistic events, sculpting competitions, scientific meetings, singing festivals, publications, documentaries, videos and commemorative gifts. The list of activities also include the painting of the portraits of saints.

Finally, the Office of the Declaration of Christianity as a State Religion and the Armenian General Assembly’s Hayasdan Dsaghgadoung’s project co-ordinators have planned to plant 17,000 trees in the memory of King Drtad in the region of Khor Virab. The forest will be called the Forest of Drtad.

Besides the mentioned activities Sultan Saint Garabed of Moush association was formed to enlist all the pilgrims in this association. The association has its own passport that mentions the pilgrim’s nationality. The passport will be stamped with the official stamp of the Prelacy of the region that the pilgrim visits. The pilgrim that visits all the pilgrimage sites will be presented with a parchment diploma.

G: What kind of problems and difficulties do you expect the course of fulfilling the plans and activities for the 1700th anniversary?

MA: The high financial costs to implement the activities can cause us some problems.

G: What do you expect from the youth in regards to the activities for the 1700th anniversary celebration?

MA: The participation of the youth is very important. The youth should bring their participation both in the planning and the implementation of the activities. We are trying to pass to the next generation the traditions and obligations which we inherited from our previous generation. To be able to this we need to have the next generation. We will extend our arm, and the arm reaching us should be that of the youth and it is only at that time that the old and new generations will be linked to provide a mean of transferring the traditions and obligations.