Return of the Mkhitarist Fathers
Mkhitarist Seminary, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006
I’ve been a little quiet of late because of work and in particular an article and photos that I had to produce for One Magazine, a publication of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). After viewing my Lightstalkers portfolio, the magazine’s photo editor approached me for a story on the return of the Mkhitarist Fathers to Armenia.
As I like stories on subjects that are seldom covered here, I jumped at the chance. The Mkhitarist Fathers are particularly interesting as Wikipedia explains.
The Mechitarists (Armenian: Մխիթարեան), also spelled Mekhitarists, are a congregation, founded in 1712 by Mechitar, of Armenian Benedictine monks in communion with the Catholic Church.
Their eponymous founder, Mekhitar, was born at Sebaste in Armenia in 1676. He entered a monastery, but under the influence of Western missionaries he became possessed with the idea of propagating Western ideas and culture in Armenia, and of converting the Armenian Church from its alleged monophysitism (a christological heresy in Roman Catholic viewpoint) and reuniting it with the Latin Church.
Anyway, despite some early conflict with the Apostolic Church, the Mkhitarist Fathers have since earned their place in Armenian history and credited with a lot of what we take for granted today. While the Soviet era was responsible for high literacy rates in Armenia today, it was the Mkhitarist Fathers that influenced the general direction of education and national identity.
Artyom at iArarat sent me a PDF of a chapter of a book, The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars, written by an old friend of mine from London, Razmik Panossian.
The most influential intellectuals who directly contributed to the creation of modern Armenian identity were, remarkably, the Catholic monks organized in the Mkhitarist monastic order based in Venice (and later partly in Vienna). It is not surprising to find clergy at the forefront of national consciousness. What is surprising in this case is that, first, the clergy were Catholic despite the fact that Armenian identity was based on the Apostolic ‘national’ church and second, the Mkhitarists’ ethno-religious work paved the way for the secular ideology of nationalism, which consequently did not have the strong anti-clerical component usually associated with it.
[…]
Much like his contemporary merchants Mkhitar was a bridge between the East (his people and his homeland) and the West (his religion and final home). His followers continued this tradition and became key agents in the disemination of many European ideas and approaches (particularly in cultural, historical, linguistic and of course religious related matters) into Armenian thinking, especially in Ottoman Armenia. Mkhitarists, however, were not only trading in intellectual products, but also creating them. They were instrumental in retrieving Armenia’s ‘golden age’ and putting it in the service of nationalism.
Indeed, this spread of European ideas and approaches, especially in the area of education, can be seen as being instrumental in Armenia’s orientation towards Europe today. In fact, the Armenian Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian, made reference to the Mkhitarist Fathers when he received the Grosso d’Oro Veneziano award from the Masi Foundation in Italy last year.
Today, if you ask the Mekhitarist fathers whether they are Venetian, they will say yes. If you ask them whether they are Armenian, they will say yes. One can say that they were pioneers in establishing a common European identity, about which we speak proudly, yet with some apprehension.
If it used to be religion that bound Europe together a millennium ago, it certainly isn’t any longer. Nor is it the economic advancement that was specific to Europe two centuries ago. It isn’t ideology either, which was both adhesive and encumbrance for decades in the last century.
Europe is more than its common history, more than geography, more than a club for members. All those who’ve said Europe is an idea are right. It is the idea of a Europe that is the common, if unattainable ideal.
[…]
Armenia is Europe. This is a fact, it’s not a response to a question.
Anyway, the Mkhitarist Fathers returned to Armenia in 1998 at the invitation of the Catholicos to work among the Republic’s 200,000 Catholics mainly situated in the north of the country. Two years ago they started work on opening their Seminary to train a new generation of Mkhitarist Fathers in Yerevan where there are currently 22 boys aged from 13 upwards studying.
Father Hovsep, Mkhitarist Seminary, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006
Father Hovsep, an energetic 80-year-old Mkhitarist Father born in Ethiopia, also says that the Catholicos wants to present the Order with one of Armenia’s abandoned monasteries in order to reintroduce the monastic tradition into the country. They’re not sure which monastery it will be for now, but I hope it will be a scenic one for future photographic work at least.
“Armenian Monasteries gave us culture and worked to keep the faith of the Armenians alive. This is important because the monasteries are now abandoned and the only Monks that remain are the Mkhitarist Fathers.
“The Catholicos has requested that we open this Monastery so that the monastic tradition is reintroduced in Armenia and so we can keep it alive. That is why he gave his approval and benediction for this Seminary.”
That’s from the 2,000 word article I’ve written, for which I’ve also supplied 40 photographs. However, can’t say anymore or post additional images until the article is published in the near future. Obviously, I’ll post a link and write more on this blog when it is.
Until the article and photographs are published, CNEWA’s One Magazine has an article by John Hughes on Armenia’s Catholics here, and the Mkhitarist Fathers have a web site, albeit so far in Italian only, here.
Mkhitarist Seminary, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006
Special thanks to Sevan Kabakian from Birthright Armenia, Anoush from the AVC and Anoush Armenia blogs, and Zarchka at Life Around Me for helping me make contact with the Mkhitarist Fathers.
Mkhitarist Seminary, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006
Mother Theresa Missionaries of Charity , Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006
I was led through the monastery of San Lazarro with Father Hovsep in 2000. He is a walking encyclopedia on the history of the Armenian nation and its children. Anyone that has met the dear Father walks away with a permanent impression from his commitment to the Armenian christian heritage. Now that he is in Armenia, I thoroughly recommend that his wisdom and knowledge be sought out. That is if you can catch him from his busy schedule. He is one of those people that makes life worth living.
Comment by Darwin Jamgochian — December 2, 2006 @ 9:14 pm
Yes, I liked him a lot too. Very calming, interesting and endearing. What you say about his commitment is also true as well, and even at the age of 80 her drives up to Gyumri every 15 days, even in the winter, to see Sister Arousiag and her nuns for whom he’s their Confessor. Anyway, it was nice to visit the Seminary and great to get asked to do this this story.
Comment by Onnik — December 3, 2006 @ 12:12 am
and my son who also learns at the Seminary is quite inspired by Father Hovsep and when comes home he says : “When i see him my heart fills with love with everything and everybody, ma, you can’t imagine what kind of a person he is.”
i am happy he has such a person beside at the place where he spends most of his time nowadays, and has an example of a really spiritual behavior and life.
Comment by tsovinar — December 3, 2006 @ 5:36 am
great story. i wonder if you did the story on the fathers or traveled as well to catholic parishes? btw thanks for the link to the hughes article. i had no idea that azatan was a catholic, or as they call it in armenia a frank village, and i am from gyumri. enlightened. kudos, onnik.
Comment by artyom — December 3, 2006 @ 6:16 am
Hi Artyom, No time to travel as the deadline was too close for the article. Would have liked to have gone with Father Hovsep to Gyumri last Monday,but there was no time. I had been in touch with the Mkhitarist Fathers at the beginning of the month, but after they rang once there was no word from them until I managed too track down their number through the AVC, Birthright Armenia, and Zarchka.
Incidently, I never knew about Azatan either, although I’ve only ever been there once and that was when I was covering Demirchyan’s election campaign in 2003. Was travelling from village to village photographing countless sheep being slaughtered at his feet until hitting Gyumri. Did go to the Yerevan Center of the Mother Theresa nuns, however, where they look after abandoned babies with physical and mental disabilities.
Two of the children needed urgent medical treatment, and before the nuns took them to hospital, Father Hovsep performed mass and confession in the temporary absence of their own Confessor. Anyway, the Mkhitarist Fathers don’t proselytize in Armenia, and nor do they perform charitable work given their own lack of money. Their main task now is to train a new generation of Monks in Yerevan.
Comment by Onnik — December 3, 2006 @ 12:31 pm
I liked Father Hovsep immensely, couldn’t not smile when he was talking in such a mellow way. After that visit I changed my opinion about monks and priests to a certain extent . Glad such people still exist. Thanks for the opportunity.
Comment by Zarchka — December 3, 2006 @ 1:06 pm
Thanks for the comment, Tsovinar. Actually, for the rest of you, there’s a funny story associated with my trying to find the Mkhitarist Fathers and Tsovinar. Was really panicking for a while but eventually arranged to go in one Thursday.
That Thursday also happened to be Tsovinar’s birthday and chatting to her on ICQ in the evening she asked me how my day was. I told her I had been to the Seminary and then she hit me with the news. Her son was enrolled there. Didn’t know up until that point.
Anyway, interviewed both Tsovinar and her son for the article. They’re in it too, but only goes to show how small Yerevan really is. Even so, I wasn’t expecting that to happen. What are the odds?
Comment by Onnik — December 3, 2006 @ 1:18 pm
I was fortunate enough to attend their summer camp in Cape Cod, MA as a kid (1980-1983), and then visit their Vienna and Venice locations while vacationing back in the 1990’s. In general, I am not a fan of organized religion, however I think they did great work in preserving and promoting Armenian culture in their own way. Both the Vienna and San Lazzaro locations are quite impressive. The priests are very dedicated and humble.
Comment by Raffi Meneshian — December 4, 2006 @ 6:00 pm
A good blog post! I liked this one. What building are they using to study in? Is it in Yerevan?
Comment by Mr. E — December 5, 2006 @ 3:47 am
It’s a former University building in Avan that was given to the Fathers in return for one of their buildings in Vienna which the Government requested for use as their Embassy.
Comment by Onnik — December 5, 2006 @ 10:39 am
Father Vartan Kouyoumjian, in the top photo on the left , was wonderful with the children at the Deeramayr Hayastani Jambar (Our Lady of Armenia Camp) run by the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Armenia.
Comment by Knarik O. Meneshian — December 7, 2006 @ 9:28 am
Return of the Mkhitarist Fathers
Father Hovsep, Mkhitarist Seminary, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / CNEWA One Magazine 2006-7
It was meant to have been published in the January issue of CNEWA’s One magazine, but unforeseen circumstances pushed publication …
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