Catholicos of All Armenians Bestows His Blessing upon the Pilgrims at the Mother See
19.10.2025
On October 19, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, imparted his Patriarchal Blessing to the thousands of participants of the pilgrimage to the spiritual center of all Armenians, organized by the “Mer Dzevov” (“In Our Way”) movement.
In the Cathedral Church, a joint prayer was offered under the leadership of His Holiness, after which the Catholicos of All Armenians delivered his pastoral message to the pilgrims:
Message of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians
Beloved Pilgrim Children,
With patriarchal blessing, we welcome you to Holy Etchmiadzin—the Mother See, from where, through the centuries, the divine light of faith, love for the homeland, and the strength of the national spirit have been imparted to the Armenian people.
Your pilgrimage to Holy Etchmiadzin bears witness to your love and steadfast devotion to our Holy Church and to the spiritual values of our nation.
Through Holy Etchmiadzin, our people have preserved, from generation to generation, spiritual unity and unwavering strength of faith.
Today, our Homeland stands before grave challenges.
External threats are compounded by the distortion of sacred concepts of national values and identity, and by internal discord fueled by intolerance and hostility, which give rise to new divisions.
With heavy hearts, we witness how, for political motives and on false and fabricated charges, the devoted sons of our nation and servants of the Church are deprived of their freedom—
Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, Priest Garegin Arsenyan, benefactor Samvel Karapetyan, and other civilians.
Our love and prayers are with them. We believe that, with God’s help, justice will prevail, and our brothers and sisters unlawfully deprived of their freedom will be released.
Beloved ones, we express our gratitude to each of you for your faithfulness to our Holy Church and for your support of the clergy in these difficult and troubled days.
Despite the reprehensible anti-church actions of the authorities, our Holy Church remains unshaken and strong—sustained by the faith and devotion of her people.
With the same zeal, she continues to fulfill her God-given mission, striving to safeguard the interests of our nation and Homeland.
We call upon all our faithful children to stand firm, not to lose heart in the face of hardships and trials, but to move forward with apostolic courage, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Together, through unity and collective effort, let us strengthen faith and hope in our lives, and affirm goodness and peace in our country.
In solidarity and concord, we shall be able to realize our common national vision—to strengthen our statehood and to build our homeland.
We pray that Almighty God, by His Holy Right Hand, may protect our Homeland, our Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, and strengthen our people, granting them an unshakable spirit to withstand every trial.
May the Lord bestow safety and prosperity upon the Armenian nation—in Armenia and throughout the Diaspora—now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
May your pilgrimage vow be fulfilled, beloved!
