Catholicos Garegin Hovsepian

Karekin I (Armenian: Գարեգին Ա. Յովսէփեան) (17 December 1867 in Khachisar (now Chardakhlu), Artsakh – 21 June 1952 in Antelias, Lebanon) was a scholar of Armenian art and Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church from 1943 to 1952.

Born Garegin Hovsepian and originally from Artsakh (then part of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire), he studied at the Gevorgian Seminary of the Catholicosate of All Armenians in Etchmiadzin (1882-1890). During this period, he was ordained a deacon of the Armenian Church and joined the Congregation of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin. In 1892-1897, he studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Leipzig, Halle and Berlin. His doctoral dissertation was published in Leipzig in 1897.

After his return from Germany, Karekin was ordained a celibate priest in Etchmiadzin. In 1917 he was ordained bishop, Until the outbreak of the First World War, he held a number of teaching and administrative positions within the jurisdiction of the Holy See, in Etchmiadzin, Yerevan,and Tbilisi; he was, at different times, head of the Echdmiazin library, Dean of the Gevorgian Seminary, and editor of the Catholicosate’s journal, Ararat. Following the mass influx of refugees, escaping the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916, he chaired the Commission of Brotherly Assistance, which looked after the fleeing orphans.

Karekin was ordained a bishop in 1917, In May 1918, during the Ottoman invasion of Transcaucasia, he participated in the Battle of Sardarapat; he and fellow priests visited villages close to the battle-front to encourage both the Armenian soldiers and unarmed villagers to resist the invading army. His service was appreciated through subsequent decorations he received from both the Russian Commander of the Caucasian Front and the government of the Republic of Armenia (1918-1920). It also accorded him tremendous respect in Armenian nationalist circles, including the influential Dashnak Party. This proved crucial during pivotal moments in his subsequent career.

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