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Following a well-established tradition, students of Armenian State Pedagogical University met with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Supreme Patriarch received the second-year MA students of the Faculty of History and Jurisprudence at the Vache and Tamar Manoukian Matenadaran.
ASPU Rector Rouben Mirzakhanyan thanked Catholicos Karekin II for the warm reception, noting that the new generation of historians will teach [in schools] History of Armenia and Armenian Church. Mr Mirzakhanyan stressed that the meeting with the Supreme Patriarch was a unique opportunity for the future historians to receive the blessing and precepts of the Catholicos on their career path.
His Holiness Karekin II congratulated female students on the occasion of Motherhood and Beauty Day marked in Armenia annually on April 7 and wished that ‘God grant them maternal happiness and all heavenly gifts that will beautify their lives.’
The Armenian Catholicos hailed the efforts of the ASPU Rector to regularly direct students to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and said, “Many of you will soon ‘step into schools’ to carry out your professional mission. I urge you to stay faithful to your calling and educate knowledgeable and honest generations. Our future is anchored in our past; direct your steps and efforts towards the light of the history that has always flickered brightly thanks to our historians.”
The Catholicos reminded the future historians that a great responsibility is placed on their shoulders because the teaching of history shapes the consciousness of generations. “The person who is well aware of his nation’s history develops a more responsible attitude to the present, unwillingly becoming a proud citizen. Parallel to conveying pupils your knowledge, you familiarize them with the history of your nation; in this sense, a historian assumes greater responsibility before his country and people as he presents them the age-old aspirations and dreams of his nation.”
The Supreme Patriarch also stressed the role and significance of Christianity in the centuries-old history of Armenian people, pointing out the recent expressions that put the nation’s Christian faith in question. “The path to eternal life rests on the belief and faithfulness to Saviour’s Doctrine. Always remember that faith and church are inseparable from history,” Karekin II said stressing again that the Church is the house of every person and clergymen are our spiritual parents.
During the meeting, the students asked the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians a number of questions. In particular, they were interested in the attitude of the Armenian Church towards Protestant churches, apostate Armenians, anti-Armenian policy of the Georgian Republic, as well as the assistance rendered by the Church to the Armenian-populated town Kessab in Syria.
The group also visited the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin and the newly-opened Ruben Sevak Museum at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
