On Sunday, May 5, 2013, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, departed for Armenia to participate in the fifth meeting of the Canonization Committee. The Committee is comprised of high ranking clergy from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia, and serves under the auspices of our Pontiffs, H.H. Catholicos Karekin II and H.H. Catholicos Aram I.
Members are; H.E. Archbishop Yeznig Bedrosian (Co-Chair, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin), H.E. Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian (Co-Chair, Holy See of Cilicia), H.E. Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin), H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian (Holy See of Cilicia), H.G. Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin), H.G. Bishop Armash Nalbandian (Secretary, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin), H.G. Bishop Papken Tcharian (Secretary, Holy See of Cilicia), and H.G. Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian (Holy See of Cilicia), who was absent from the meeting.
The Committee convened with prayer on the morning of Tuesday, May 7 at Holy Etchmiadzin. The Co-Chair Archbishops welcomed the members and conveyed the blessings and well wishes of our Pontiffs to the Committee.
The members reviewed the Committee’s previous report and based on the guidance of our two Pontiffs, focused on the canonization of victims of the Armenian Genocide. The matter of canonizing individuals who lived in the centuries prior to the Genocide will be reviewed at a later time. The Committee concluded its activities on Wednesday, May 8.
Thursday, May 9 was the Feast of the Ascension as well as Victory Day in Armenia. May 9, or Victory and Peace Day, is a public holiday in Armenia, a day when people gather at Yerevan’s Victory Park to honor the memory of those who died defending our nation. The Prelate participated in Victory Day commemorations at Victory Park, where he joined his fellow Committee members in laying flowers near the eternal flame.