HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II,

SUPREME PATRIARCH AND

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS

Dear Supreme Patriarch,  

We were deeply saddened by the news about the death of cenobite of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Eminence, Father, Archbishop Arsen Berberyan.

The death of the clergyman who made a great contribution to the reinforcement of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the strengthening of the Christian faith is truly a severe loss for the Armenian Church and all faithful Armenians.

His spiritual life is linked to the Homeland and the Armenian Diaspora. During his years of study at the London Royal College and the Musical Academy, he also served as a spiritual pastor of the local Armenian community and made his contributions to the preservation and strengthening of Armenian spiritual traditions. His sermons about the nation and the church have been disseminated to the Armenian Diocese of England and the U.S. Western Diocese, the spiritual pastorship in Sweden and elsewhere.

The dedicated clergyman’s several studies, music and history textbooks, articles, albums and recordings of spiritual songs and psalms are an addition to the “palette” of the Armenian Church that our spiritual fathers have left us as a legacy.

The Holy Father’s contributions to the preservation of the Armenian identity, the strengthening of the Homeland-Diaspora relations, as well as his position on and meticulous approach to supporting international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the just presentation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are invaluable.

The dedicated servant of the Armenian Church set forth questions in the interests of his people and reinterpreted the ecumenical, inter-ecclesiastical life.

Accept my deep condolences. In this moment of grief, we share with you the pain and sorrow of the severe loss.

WITH A KISS ON YOUR HOLY HAND,

WITH DEEP SORROW,

HRANUSH HAKOBYAN