His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided over the consecration of the newly-built Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration, located in Moscow, Russia, on September 17. The occasion included opening ceremonies for the cathedral’s adjacent cultural complex.
The mammoth cathedral and its surrounding buildings will serve as the seat of the Armenian Church Diocese of New Nakhichevan and Russia, whose Primate Bishop Yezras Nersisyan led the seven-year construction effort, and played a prominent role in the consecration service. Catholicos Karekin II raised Bishop Yezras to the rank of “archbishop” on the occasion.
His Holiness Kirill I, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, attended the September 17 ceremony, accompanied by clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Upon Patriarch’s arrival, our Archbishop, His Eminence Nathan Hovhannisian officially greeted the Russian Pontiff.
Armenia’s President Serge Sargsyan, Nagorno-Karabagh President Bako Sahakyan, dignitaries of the Armenian and Russian governments, and cathedral benefactors were also present.
At the conclusion of the consecration service, a cross-shaped reliquary containing a fragment of a relic of Christ’s Holy Cross was brought to the altar, as a gift from the Catholicos of All Armenians to the Armenian faithful of the Russian diocese.
