Fr Nshan Alaverdyan

 

Fr. Nshan Alaverdyan (baptismal name Gevorg) was born in 1981, on January 17, in the village of Varser in the Sevan region. He studied at the Gevorgyan Theological Seminary at Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 1998 to 2007. He served in the National Army between 2004 – 2006.

He was ordained as a deacon, by Bishop Sion Adamyan, on 25th December 20003. In 2007 he successfully defended his thesis entitled “Nerses Lambronatsi and his delegation to Constantinople” with manuscript.

Since 2007 he has served with the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and was the Deacon of the secretary of the Echmiadzin Foreign Language Department.

In 2011, February to April, he served at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Communication Department. From 2011 to 2014 he served as a visiting deacon in the spiritual pastor of the penitentiary institutions.

Fr Nshan was ordained as a priest on 21st September 2014, by Bishop Haykazun Najarian. He was appointed as a spiritual shepherd of a newly-reconstructed Nor Nork 1st Church of Araratian Patriarchal Diocese, in parallel continuing his prison visits.

On February 20, 2018, Fr Nshan was called to serve in the Armenian Diocese of Great Britain and Ireland. On April 12 He was appointed as the pastor of St. Yeghiche Armenian Church by His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukyan.

 

 

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Bishop Hovakim Manukyan

Primate of the Armenian Church of United Kingdom

and Republic of Ireland

His Grace Bishop Hovakim Manukian (baptismal name Vardkes) was born on October 19, 1976, in the village Voskehat, Republic of Armenia. He received his primary education at the secondary school of the village starting in 1983 and graduating in 1993. He entered the Vaskenian Theological Academy at Lake Sevan in 1994 and 1999 transferred to the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and graduated in 2000. He also took a course at the Bossey Ecumenical School, Geneva, Switzerland in 1998 and a course in Social Theology at the Diaconal School in Aarhus, Denmark in 2001.

He was ordained to the diaconate on July 16, 2000, by His Eminence Archbishop Mesrop Grigorian. Upon his graduation in 2000, he was assigned to serve in the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Armenian Church.  On October 22, 2001 he successfully defended his thesis entitled “Extracts from the History of the Coptic Orthodox Church ” and received high commendation.

He was ordained as a celibate priest in November 2001 by His Eminence Archbishop Voskan Galpakian and given the priestly name of Hovakim. He departed Armenia for further study, and from 2002-2004, studied at the Spiritual Academy in Sergiev Posad, Moscow.

He returned to Armenia in June, 2004 and was reappointed to serve in the Inter-Church Department of the Mother See. He was appointed to serve as the Director of the Inter Church Office in August, 2005, where he still serves today. He presented and successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Ecumenism in the 20th Century and the Armenian Church” and on April 23, 2006 received the rank of Archimandrite (Vardapet) at the St. Mesrop church of Oshakan by His Eminence Archbishop Yeznik Petrosian.

From 2008-2009 he attended classes at the Yerevan University School of Political Studies. He is a lecturer at the Gevorkian Seminary and the Vaskenian Academy on the History of the Universal and Armenian Churches.

Since 2005 he has served as member of the Trustee Committee of the Armenian Round Table Charitable Foundation. He served as a member of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) from 2004 to 2009. He was appointed to serve as a member of the Central Committee of the CEC in 2009. Since 2004, he has served as the Ecumenical Officer of the Armenian Church to the World Council of Churches. He is the author of several scientific, public and apologetic articles.

In June 2015 Bishop Hovakim was appointed Primate of the Armenian Churches of the United Kingdom by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians.

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Very Revd Fr Aren Shaheenian, PhD

Born on January 20, 1970, in Baghdad, Iraq, Fr Aren started his theological studies at the “Babylon Theological College” in Iraq. On March 2, 2000, he was ordained a celibate priest by Abp. Avak Assadourian.

In 2003, he was appointed as Vicar General of the Armenian Church in Italy.

In 2004, Fr Aren was appointed parish priest of the Armenian community of Rome. One year later he received his Doctorate in Liturgical Studies from the Pontifical Institute in Rome.

2012-2013 he served as Abbot of St Kevork Monastery of Moughni in Armenia.

By the orders of HH Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians, Fr Aren was appointed to our Diocese in January, 2014.

In July 2014 by an episcopal order. HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, appointed the Very Revd Dr Aren Shaheenian pastor of the St Yeghiche Church Parish.