ETCHMIADZIN, Armenia - The 2001 Youth Pilgrimage, which will take place from July 10-20, 2001, is the premier event during the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity in Armenia as state religion. A significant amount of youth from the Armenian Church dioceses of Armenia and the Diaspora will be participating in the event.

The third inter-diocesan meeting of the Youth Pilgrimage was held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on November 23, 2000. The meeting was presided over by the executive secretary of the 1700th Anniversary Celebration Ecclesiastical Committee, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian. Rev. Father Zadik Avedikian, the Pilgrimage European Committee chairperson, State Celebrations Committee members, Yerevan City Hall representatives, representatives from various ministries and other guests participated in the meeting also.

During the meeting, reports were presented by the 1700th Anniversary Office and the pilgrimage committees of each diocese in Armenia and the Diaspora of the work that had been carried out until then. Issues including the cooperation between the ecclesiastical and state committees, the spiritual education of the participants, as well as the arrival and securing of accommodations, medical services and overall security of the pilgrims were discussed.

The issue of recruiting youth from the Diaspora, especially Europe, the United States, Russia and the Middle East, was also actively discussed.

The "Pilgrims' Guidebook" and its course of preparation was also a point of discussion. The guidebook will be translated into several languages so that it can be user-friendly to a larger number of pilgrims. The guidebook will contain sections, which will familiarize the pilgrim with the importance of the pilgrimage, the history of the Armenian Church and the significance of every pilgrimage site in Armenia. It will also include all the necessary information useful to the pilgrim during his or her participation in the program.

Suggestions were made on various topics related to the Youth Pilgrimage at the end of the meeting. The participants of the meeting were also informed that the Youth Pilgrimage Office in Yerevan had opened and started organizational work for the program. Mr. Areg Tadevossian had been appointed as the office director and soon a larger staff would be brought in to coordinate the event. The office is located at 19 Koryun Street (Entrance I, 2nd floor) and all those who are interested in finding out more about the Youth Pilgrimage are encouraged to visit or call the office at (374-1) 560137 or email at the following address: [email protected].