Diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany

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The Diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany ( Armenian Առաջնորդութիւն Հայոց Գերմանիոյ կամ Հայ Եկեղեցու Գերմանիայի Թեմ ) is a diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Germany .

history

Around 700 Armenians lived in Germany in the 1930s . The first Armenian clergyman to take on pastoral work in Germany in the 20th century was Archarchmandrite Grigor Shahlamian, who came to Germany in 1922 as a theology student. After his studies he looked after the local Armenians from Berlin from 1926 to 1945 and then from Stuttgart until his death on February 21, 1952 . Between 1945 and 1948 another Armenian clergyman, Arch Pastor Vahan Askarian, was also a parish priest in Stuttgart and Esslingen . After Shahlamian's death until 1965, the Armenians were left without a permanent parish priest. Nevertheless, they were ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchal Delegate for Western Europe, based in Paris, who occasionally sent an Armenian clergyman from Paris to Germany at the request of the Armenians.

In 1965 the future primate of the diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany, Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian , at that time still Archimandrite , came to Germany as a student, where he stayed until 1972. During this time, with the approval of the Patriarchal Delegate for Western Europe and at the request of the local Armenians, he celebrated services in Cologne , Stuttgart, Hamburg , Frankfurt and in some other cities in Germany. Archarchimandrite Mesrop Grigorian from Vienna visited Germany at the same time and also afterwards and celebrated services mainly in Berlin. During this period, the Armenians began to form their own community structures in Germany. Archimandrite Karekin II. Nersissian , today Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, came to Germany in 1975 by order of the Catholicos of All Armenians, SH Vazgen I. and Vazken I. Care of the Armenians in the Federal Republic. After him, Archimandrite Hagop Keledjian (today Archbishop, Primate of the Armenian Church in Uruguay) came to Germany, who looked after the local Armenian congregations between 1978 and 1983.

On January 2, 1980, Vazgen I. placed the Armenian parishes in Germany under the jurisdiction of the newly sent Patriarchal Delegate for Central Europe ( Austria , Germany, Scandinavian countries ) based in Vienna with an official encyclical . Since then, Archarchimandrite Vazken Tatoyan (1980–1984, deceased), Bishop Davit Sahagian (1983–1985, today in Jerusalem), Archimandrite Hagop Geuktchian (1986–1998, deceased), Archimandrite Komitas Hovnanyan (1987–1999, today in Armenia) pastoral work for the Armenians in Germany.

At the beginning of the 1990s there were already around 20,000 Armenians living in Germany who were organized in eight parishes in parallel with cultural associations. The need arose to coordinate the activities and cooperation of these parishes. On January 31, 1992, HH Vasgen I., the then Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians , complied with the request of the delegates' assembly of these parishes and announced the establishment of an independent diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church for the Federal Republic of Germany in an official encyclical Based in Cologne (poor. Առաջնորդութիւն Հայոց Գերմանիոյ կամ Հայ Եկեղեցու Գերմանիայի Թեմ) known.

Archbishops and Bishops

The first primate of the diocese (arm. Թեմակալ Առաջնորդ) was the archimandrite at that time, Karekin Bekdjian, who had received his university education in Germany. Archimandrite Bekdjian was elected primate of the diocese by the diocesan delegate assembly and consecrated bishop on September 28, 1992 in St. Etschmiadzin by Catholicos Vazgen I. He was archbishop from 1998 to 2017.

After his election as primate, Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian tried to hire more priests for pastoral work in the diocese. At the end of 1993 the deacon Hagop Nalbandian came to Germany at the invitation of the primate. He studied Protestant theology at the University of Erlangen. In November 1998 he was ordained a celibate priest by the primate of the diocese by order of Catholicos Karekin I and appointed parish priest in Bavaria and later in Baden-Württemberg. Since 2003 he has continued his service by order of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II., In Damascus, where he was elected primate of the local Armenian diocese in 2004. He has been a bishop since 2008.

In January 1995 another clergyman, Archimandrite Serovpé Isakhanyan, came to Germany at the invitation of the Primate from St. Etschmiadzin. At the beginning of his service he was parish priest in Cologne, then from 1998 to 2005 a representative of the diocese and parish priest in Berlin, from 2005 to 2018 parish priest in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate (with residence in Hanau). In 2010 he was appointed episcopal vicar of the diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany while serving as parish priest. After Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian announced his resignation for reasons of age in January 2018, the diocesan advisory council elected Isakhanyan as the diocese's “ locum tenens ”. On April 15, 2018, the Diocesan Assembly of Delegates elected Archimandrite Isakhanyan as the new primate of the diocese in a secret ballot. Serovpé Isakhanyan was ordained a bishop on May 12, 2019. He was inducted into office as a primate on May 24, 2019.

Bishop Isakhanyan was born in Iran in 1963 to an Armenian family.

More clergy

The list of clergymen who have served and are serving in Germany since the diocese was founded:

  • Pastor Müron Sarkissian, 1997–2002, now in Canada;
  • Pastor Armen Melkonyan, 1998–2006, he served as a visiting pastor in the diocese;
  • Father Anushavan Zhamkochyan, 1999–2004, now bishop and dean of the Theological Faculty of Yerevan State University ;
  • Pastor Hayazad Mardikyan, 2003-2008, (suspended);
  • Father Garegin Harutyunyan, 2002-2004, 2006-2007, (suspended);
  • Father Aristakes Ayvazian, 2002–2009, now in Armenia;
  • Father Khatchatur Knyazyan, 2007-2011, (suspended);
  • Archimandrite Oshagan Gülgülian, 2006–2007, now in the USA;
  • Archimandrite Yeghishe Avetisyan, 2008–2011, since 2018 parish pastor in Berlin again;
  • Father Harutyun Kirakosyan, 2009–2010, now in Russia;
  • Pastor Diradur Sardaryan, since 2007, e.g. Currently parish priest in Baden-Württemberg with residence in Göppingen;
  • Father Tiran Petrosyan, 2011–2014, since 2019 bishop and patriarchal delegate for Central Europe, based in Vienna;
  • Pastor Gnel Gabrielyan, since 2011, e.g. Currently parish priest for Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate with residence in Hanau;
  • Pastor Aygik Hovhannisyan, since 2011, e.g. Currently parish priest in Bavaria with residence in Nuremberg;
  • Pastor Hratsch Biliciyan, since 2012, z. Currently parish priest for Northern Germany with residence in Bremen;
  • Pastor Vahridsch Baghdasaryan, since 2017, e.g. Currently parish priest for Cologne and the surrounding area.

Statute and structure of the diocese

Since the foundation of the diocese, all existing parishes in the diocese have been united. A diocesan approach based on the canonical order and the democratic administration of the Armenian Church was drawn up and entered in the register of associations in Cologne. The individual diocesan congregations also received new statutes that were drawn up in accordance with the diocesan approach. The main organs of the diocese are

  • the Diocesan Delegate Assembly (DDV, arm. Թեմական-Պատգամաւորական Ժողով) and
  • the diocesan advisory council (poor. Թեմական Խորհուրդ).

The Diocesan Assembly of Delegates is the highest parliamentary and legislative body in the diocese. All parishes have a minimum of one and a maximum of ten elected secular delegates. The number depends on the number of parishioners. One delegate is elected for every 50 members. The primate and the clergy of the diocese are also members of the DDV, but the share of clergy may not exceed ten percent of the total. The delegates are elected for a term of three years and may be re-elected.

The diocesan council with its eight secular members is the executive body of the diocese. By virtue of his office, the primate is a voting member of the diocesan advisory council. The diocesan advisory board members are elected by the DDV for a term of three years and may be re-elected. The primate of the diocese is the honorary chairman of the DDV and the diocesan advisory council.

The parishes at local level and the diocese at federal level are members of the Working Group of Christian Churches (ACK). In the Federal Republic, both the diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany and its member congregations are organized as registered non-profit associations . Of course, they don't levy any church tax . The costs of organizing and maintaining church life are covered by voluntary membership fees and other donations from the Armenians living in Germany. Since the founding of the diocese, the number of contributing members has grown continuously, so that today around 2200 people have a monthly membership fee. Even if membership growth has slowed in the last two to three years, the diocese is still showing positive figures. However, the membership fees and donations received are not sufficient to tackle and implement larger projects that are intended to benefit the Armenian community in Germany. For financial reasons, the diocese is not able to employ enough full-time priests, so that the 14 parishes are only looked after by five priests.

Churches

The Diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany has only three churches at its permanent disposal:

  • in Cologne the former Catholic St. Christophoruskirche in the Niehl district. The administrative center of the diocese is also located here.
  • In Göppingen, the local Armenian parish has a former Protestant church.
  • In 2006, the small Armenian community in Saxony-Anhalt, based in Halle (Saale), acquired the Catholic church in the Ammendorf district (on Alfred-Reinhardt-Straße). The church buildings and the adjacent small parish hall have been available to the community since 2010 after extensive renovation.

The remaining eleven Armenian parishes enjoy hospitality rights in a local Protestant or Catholic church and use these churches once a month for their services. Although many Protestant or Catholic churches in Germany have recently been sold, the financial situation of the diocese and the individual parishes does not allow the offered churches and parish rooms to be used due to the high financial burden associated with it (purchase price, maintenance, maintenance) take over.

Statistics of Church Life

In 2017 and 2018 respectively, the following took place in the diocese and its parishes:

Surname 2017 2018
Sunday masses 247 246
Morning and evening devotions 52 65
Ecumenical worship services 21st 19th
To baptize 105 116
Weddings 59 47
Burials 75 97
Soul masses 84 99

Web links

Diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Big School Encyclopedia", Book 1, Yerevan, 2008. (Armenian)
  2. ^ "Yearbook for All", Garo Kevorkian, 1954, Beirut, pp. 151–152 (Armenian).
  3. ^ "Yearbook for All", Garo Kevorkian, 1954, Beirut, pp. 151–152 (Armenian).
  4. ↑ Old Archbishop , accessed on May 6, 2019.
  5. ↑ AZG Daily: «ՓԱՓԱԳԵԼԻ ԹԵԿՆԱԾՈՒՆ ԸՆՏՐՎԵՑԱՎ». Accessed July 31, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Serovpe Isakhanyan becomes Armenian Bishop for Germany , Domradio, May 12, 2019, accessed on May 27, 2019.
  7. ↑ Inauguration of the new bishop and primate of the diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany, Bishop Serovpé Isakhanyan , May 24, 2019, accessed on May 27, 2019.
  8. ^ New Armenian bishop in Germany. Accessed July 31, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Editor: Consecration of the new Viennese Armenian Apostolic Archbishop Tiran Petrosyan in Etschmiadzin | ostkirchen.info. Accessed July 31, 2019 (German).
  10. ↑ Տիրան եպիսկոպոս Պետրոսյանը ՝ Կենտրոնական Եվրոպայի և Շվեդիայի Հայրապետական ​​պատվիրակ. Retrieved July 31, 2019 (Armenian).
  11. ↑ Նորաօծ Վահրիճ քահանան հոգևոր սպասավորության կվերադառնա Գերմանիայի Հայոց թեմ. July 26, 2017, Retrieved July 31, 2019 (Amharic).