Woman deacon Ani Kristi Manvelian, who serves at the St. Sarkis Church in Tehran (sometimes also the St. Mary’s Church), was born in Tehran, studied at Arax Armenian National School and the State University of Iran. She is an anesthetist and works in the surgery department of a hospital.

“Since childhood, my parents have provided me with a religious and national upbringing. I attended a Sunday school, participated in church ceremonies and served as the one holding the cloths and candles. After years of service, I was ordained as a scribe and later as a semi-deacon. Finally, on 24 September 2017, I was ordained as a deacon,” Ani Kristi said in an interview with Hayern Aysor, adding that she also owes it to Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran, His Grace, Archbishop Sepouh Sarkisian for her religious and national upbringing and for always encouraging the new generation to participate in church ceremonies.

“The church and the faith have the most important and essential role and place in the life of every Christian since a person may lose himself in this big world without faith. We need to be reinforced more in non-Christian countries so that we can survive, protect and preserve our religious and national culture and lifestyle,” Ani said.

Touching upon Armenia, Ani Kristi stated that the native land and the people are the vision and perspective of every Armenian living in the Diaspora. “I have been on the native land several times, and not as a guest, but as an Armenian who is home and with family. I have always returned to Tehran with cordial and sweet feelings and impressions and sometimes I have gotten emotional. I have visited Artsakh twice with great pride, and those visits have helped further reinforce my feeling for the nation.”