On June 18, the hall of the Prelacy of the Armenian Diocese of Romania hosted an official reception, which was attended by Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Romania, His Eminence, Bishop Tatev Hakobyan; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Romania Hamlet Gasparyan; Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Romania Ashot Grigoryan; President of the Union of Armenians of Romania Varujan Vosganian; Deputy of the National Assembly of Romania, head of the group of national minorities Varujan Pambukchyan; Metropolit of the Roman-Catholic Church, Archbishop Ioan Robu; representative of the Protestant Church, Priest Andrey Marcus; Priest Mina Talaat of the Ghpti Church; representative of the Templers Ionel Dumitru; Head of the Jewish Community in Romania, Deputy Aurel Weiner; pastor of the Romanian cities of Jas and Botosan, Priest Grigor Holka; pastor of Constanta, Priest Oshakan Khachatryan, as well as representatives of the local Armenian community and guests.

As reported “Armenpress”, the reception began with the blessing of Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Romania, His Eminence, Bishop Tatev Hakobyan and the Lord’s Prayer, after which the sacred condac of the Catholicos of All Armenias and the St. Nerses Shnorhali Orders of Honor were brought to the hall to the sounds of a church song. Priest Oshakan Khachatryan read the Armenian version of the sacred condac, while Priest Grigor Holka read it in Romanian, after which His Holiness decorated the right chests of Romanian Minister for Religion Victor Opasky and his wife with the honorary orders. In his condac, the Supreme Patriarch touched upon the activities of Mr. Opasky and especially praised the latter’s support to the renovation and re-consecration of the St. Hatchkatar Armenian Monastery of Sucaeva, an ancient Armenian shrine for all Armenians and pilgrims, the 500^th anniversary celebration and re-consecration of which was held in 2012.

In his speech, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese stated that Mr. Opasky has always supported the Armenian Church of Romania and the Armenian community and has provided funding for the renovation of several churches and structures, the conduct of an international conference devoted to genocide, the conduct of events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Holy Archangels Church of Bucharest and the publication of an album, as well as several other programs and projects. Among the speakers were Deputy of the Romanian National Assembly, head of the group of national minorities Varujan Pambukchyan and others. At the end, Victor Opasky expressed his satisfaction to the gathered, expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Romania, Bishop Tatev Hakobyan and the Romanian-Armenian community for the cordial reception and for honoring him highly. The event ended with a reception and a tasting of the unique Armenian brandy, creating a friendly and pleasant environment.