12 February, 2016

The first general youth meeting of 2016 for the preparation of WYD in Krakow took place in Holy Martyrs Cathedral in Gyumri on February 7, 2016 with the blessing of His Excellency Raphael Archbishop Minassian. Around 220 young people from Catholic communities in Armenia and Georgia took part in it.

The meeting started in the morning after the Holy Mass. The parish priest of Gyumri Fr. Grigor Mkrtchyan welcomed the youth in the Cathedral. Fr. Grigor asked the young people to treat seriously the pilgrimage which will take place in Krakow in July 2016. He said that the young people should be in the state of grace by the aid of the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion.

Many young people do not fully understand the key role of Sacraments in the life of a Christian and don’t make use of this spiritual treasure relying only on their own perceptions of faith and prayer. “What is the main goal of a Christian? It is in unity with Jesus Christ. How? First of all by St. Communion”, Fr. Grigor said and advised the young people to make use of the presence of priests during this and upcoming meetings for the confession.

The President and Coordinator of the pilgrimage of the Armenian group Fr. Garnik Hovsepyan also turned to the youth: “It is a great joy for the Armenian Catholic Church to have so many young people who are close to our Lord Jesus”. He presented the Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent meanwhile explaining the essence of fasting.

During the meeting the report of preparatory activities of 2015 was presented (You can read about it hear).

Fr. Narek Mnoyan, who serves in Yerevan parish, said: “WYD-2016 is a new experience for me. I took part in the WYD in Madrid as young man. It is important to be ready to live and to share spiritual experience with millions of young people in the reality you will face. The most important is to understand what your goal is”.

Fr. Narek Tadevosyan-the parish priest of Arevik, Azatan, Lanjik and Dzithankov-urged the youth to make efforts to recognize Jesus Christ more deeply and to live a Christian life.

The young people also learnt the Armenian translation of the WYD-2016 official hymn with the help of Mrs. Gohar Shakhulyan. Those young people with good talent for singing were chosen to be the leading singers during the WYD.

To find out what other talents the young people have, application forms were distributed to them. Some of young people even came up with their performances of sings, dancing and reciting. The young people are ready to share their national songs, dances and culture with their foreign friends as well as to discover new cultures and their peculiarities.

The meeting concluded with the Adoration of Holy Communion served by Fr. Garnik Hovsepyan.

The next general youth meeting will take place on March 05 in Holy Martyrs Church in Gyumri.

Translated by Siranush Minassyan