Very Rev. Fr. Ardag Arabian, a member of the Brotherhood of the Great House of Cilicia, has been assigned as Pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Worcester, MA, by the Religious and Lay Councils of the Eastern Prelacy.
The assignment follows the decision by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I to send Fr. Ardag to the U.S. to serve the Eastern Prelacy.
His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, will introduce the newly assigned pastor to the community of Worcester on Sunday, March 27, when Fr. Ardag will celebrate his first Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon in his new parish.
Very Rev. Fr. Ardag, whose lay name is George, was born in Kessab, Syria, on Aug. 8, 1990. He attended the local “Usumnasiratz” Elementary School and in the academic year 2002-2003 he was admitted to the Seminary of the Great House of Cilicia. Upon completing the eight-year course at the Seminary in 2010, he was ordained as celibate priest. In 2010-2015 he served as head of the Catholicosate’s archives and taught at the Seminary, where he also served as assistant to the dean in 2013-2014, followed by a stint as assistant to the head librarian of the “Cilicia” Library of the Catholicosate (2014-2015).
In July 2015 he was granted the Vartabed staff, followed by a year serving as assistant to the Prelate of Isfahan, Iran. The following year he served as the pastor of Latakia, Syria (2016-2017). Admitted to Charles Sturt University to study Theology in 2019, he graduated the following year with a Master’s degree and returned to Antelias, where he became assistant to the head librarian. In April 2021 he was elevated to the rank of senior archimandrite (dzayrakooyn vartabed / ծայրագոյն վարդապետ).
We extend our warm congratulations to Very Rev. Fr. Ardag, wishing him success in his new role for the benefit of his community.
The Religious Council highly appreciates the services rendered by Rev. Fr. Torkom Chorbajian, the pastor of Holy Trinity for the last three years, in providing for the needs of the parish, as he gets ready to serve in a new capacity as we will inform in our next issue.