On the evening of October 7, 2026, a meeting between a group of Armenian Catholic clergy and the new directors of the Armenia office of the French organization L’Œuvre d’Orient took place at the Gyumri office of the Armenian Catholic Ordinariate. They were accompanied by the former directors, the Deputy Director of L’Œuvre d’Orient, and another young volunteer. As H. E. Kevork Archbishop Noradounguian is currently in Rome attending the sessions of the Synod of Bishops, Very Rev. Fr. Nerses Galstyan, Vicar General of the Armenian Catholic Communities in Armenia and Parish Priest of Tashir, received the guests on the behalf of His Excellency. Also present at the meeting were Fr. Hovsep Galstyan, Parish Priest of Ashotsk and the Chancellor of the Ordinariate; Fr. Narek Tadevosyan, Parish Priest of Arevik and Lanjik communities; and Fr. Mikayel Domburyan, Parish Priest of Panik, Azatan, Gharibjanyan, and Dzitankhov communities.

Mr. Vincent Cayol, Director of Operations at L’Œuvre d’Orient, expressed his gratitude to the former directors of the organization’s Armenia office, Luc and Blandine Boureau, for their volunteer work, and introduced the volunteer couple replacing them in the same roles, Thibault and Florence de Langlais. Having recently retired in France, Thibault previously worked in the oil industry and Florence is a historian, both are devout Catholic faithful who, even after retirement, chose to perform volunteer work for the Armenian people through the programs of L’Œuvre d’Orient instead of resting. They bring prior volunteer experience from Côte d’Ivoire and Romania.

At the request of their French colleagues, the Armenian Catholic priests presented an overview of their pastoral missions in their respective parishes, outlining the complexities, challenges, and projects funded through L’Œuvre d’Orient. The guests were particularly interested in the missions carried out in smaller communities and local needs; they emphasized that the mission of L’Œuvre d’Orient is successful when they are able to assist small communities in their pastoral duties, particularly in evangelization and catechesis.

As a reminder, Very Rev. Mgr. Hugues de Woillemont, Director General of L’Œuvre d’Orient, also visited Armenia in March of this year.

Fr. Hovsep Galstyan

Chancery of the Ordinariate for Armenian Catholics

October 8, 2026