Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan
Primate of the Diocese of Tavoush
- General Information
Born in 1971 in Gyumri. Baptismal name: Vazgen.
1978–1988 - Yerevan Secondary School No. 156.
1988–1994 - Gevorgian Theological Seminary.
1998–2000 - College of the Resurrection, Mirfield and University of Leeds (Bachelor’s-level studies).
2012 - Concordia University (Montreal), Theology and Bioethics.
Doctoral dissertation: “The Armenian Healthcare System: Historical, Social, and Theological Dimensions - Past, Present, and Future Development Prospects.”
- Ecclesiastical Ranks and Ordination
1994 - Ordained to the diaconate by His Grace Bishop Anania Arabajian.
1995 - Ordained as a celibate priest (hieromonk) by His Holiness Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
2002 - Granted the four degrees of the rank of private archimandrite by His Eminence Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian.
Thesis: “The Theological Question of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in the Armenian Church”.
2003 - Consecrated as Bishop by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
2023 - Elevated to the rank of Archbishop by Patriarchal Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II.
- Tenure
1996 - Editor-in-Chief of the official journal Etchmiadzin of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
1996 - Deputy Director of the Center for Christian Education and Preaching.
1996–1998 - Lecturer at the Gevorgian Theological Seminary and the Vaskenian Theological Seminary of Sevan, teaching Divine Liturgy Interpretation, Hymnology, and General Church History.
1996–1998 - Staff-bearer of His Holiness Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and the Catholicos of All Armenians.
1998–2000 - Visiting Pastor at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church, Manchester, United Kingdom.
1996–2000 - Member of the Central Organizing Committee for the 1700th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Christianity as the State Religion of Armenia.
2000–2002 - Dean of the Vaskenian Theological Seminary of Sevan.
Since 2002 Director of the Information and Public Relations Office of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Shogakat” TV Company.
2002–2003 - Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Aragatsotn.
2003–2013 - Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Canada.
2013–2015 - Director of the Office for Ecclesiastical Conceptual Issues, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
Since 2015 Primate of the Diocese of Tavoush.
Since 2017 Member of the Supreme Spiritual Council.
- Books and Scholarly Works
The Problem of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in the Armenian Church, Holy Etchmiadzin, 2011.
With the Vision of the Promised Land, 2013.
