The main pillars of the Armenian people’s existence from 301 A.D. onwards have always been our religion and our language. Everywhere we elected abode, driven by the natural instinct of survival we endeavored to build our Church and School to preserve our identity and culture.
For Armenians who were early comers to the UAE, Church life as we know it today did not exist. In the 60’s and 70’s Armenians wishing to worship had to attend foreign Church services.
The Armenian community in the UAE was officially established in 1977. Marking this occasion, on 9th May 1977 Very Reverend Father Ashdjian celebrated the first ever Holy Mass in Armenian in the UAE. The service took place in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church of Dubai in the presence of about 70 Armenians. This was the first large scale gathering of Armenians in UAE.
In 1979 Armenians in the UAE became part of the Prelacy of Kuwait and the Gulf Countries having its administrative centre in the city of Kuwait. On the evening of 23rd December 1979, Reverend Father Ochagan Choloyan celebrated Holy Mass in the Holy Trinity Church in Dubai. This was the second Armenian Holy Mass service celebrated in Dubai.
In a letter dated 15 March 1980 His Holiness Karekin I Catholicos of the Holly See of Cilicia officially recognized the first appointed Armenian Community Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates. In April 1980, His Holiness Karekin I appointed Very Reverend Father Ochagan Choloyan to the position of Vicar to the Prelacy of Kuwait and the Gulf Countries.
Given that the community did not have its own Church during the 1980’s, the Armenian Community Council occasionally rented the Saint Michael Catholic Church in Sharjah, where visiting clergy from Kuwait and Antelias celebrated Holy Mass and preformed other religious services.
From 1980 until 1993 the main occasions for Church services were only Christmas and Holy Easter. On these days, Holy Mass was celebrated after the holiday by either the Prelacy Vicar or by a visiting clergyman.
During a session chaired by Very Reverend Father Ochagan Choloyan, considering the growth of our community size, in October 1990 the Armenian Community Council decided to have a locally based spiritual shepherd. The community of Dubai and the Northern Emirates as well as Abu Dhabi welcomed their first resident pastor Very Reverend Father Papken Charian who took up his post on 22nd April 1993. He celebrated Holy Mass in the Saint Michael Church in Sharjah once every two weeks; he formed a church choir of 16 members and gave Bible study classes to the senior students of the one-day school on a fortnightly basis.
After Father Charian left the community was left without a residing spiritual shepherd. During this period, this prompted Very Reverend Father Choloyan to pay frequent visits to the community to chair the Armenian Community Council’s meetings and celebrate Holy Mass.
In 1997, Deacon Hratch Deyirmendjian was invited by the Armenian community Council for a period of two weeks. The purpose of the visit was for both sides to get acquainted with each other. On 13th September 1998, he was ordained in Antelias Lebanon as a married priest and as per our tradition, he was given a new name which is Aram.
On 4th November 1998 Father Aram Deyirmendjian became the first resident Armenian married priest in the United Arab Emirates.
In April 1995, His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos of Holy See of Cilicia paid his first Catholicossal visit to the United Arab Emirates and was officially received as a state guest by the late president His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi.
At the request of His Holiness Catholicos Karekin I, His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Al Qassimi, the ruler of Sharjah, generously donated a piece of land and approved the construction of the first Armenian Apostolic Church in the United Arab Emirates.
French Architect Papken Aivazian from Sharjah was entrusted with the preparation of the Church’s complex plans which featured the traditional character of the Armenian Church’s architecture; he also oversaw all the construction phases and has provided all his services without any financial compensation.
In 1997 Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia officially inaugurated the construction in a ground breaking ceremony marking the occasion and on 15th November 1998 he ordained the newly built St. Gregory Armenian Church and inaugurated the adjacent building comprising the Pierre Keusseyan community hall and the Ohanessian Armenian school in the presence of more than 2000 Armenians from our communities in Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.
The Church along with its one day school and community hall became the entity that contributed to the fulfilment of our community member’s spiritual life also providing religious education to the new generation and preserving the Armenian identity, language and culture as well as strengthening our community’s Armenian spirit and communicating the traditions of the Armenian Church to all Armenians.
