Mkrtich Khrimian - Catholicos of All Armenians, Echmiadzin (1892-1907)

Catholicos of All Armenians, Echmiadzin (1892-1907)

In the eyes of native people the personality of Khrimyan rose instantly; therefore in 1892 Khrimyan Hayrik was unanimously elected Catholicos of All Armenians. He moved to the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin as head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Because of his fatherly love and dedication to the common people, Mkrtich Khrimian was affectionately called Khrimian "Hayrik", which means "father" in the Armenian language.

In 1903 the Czarist government of Imperial Russia ordered the confiscation of all Armenian ecclesiastical and educational properties. Khrimian, then acting Catholicos, waged a heroic struggle against the decision, which came to success in 1905 when the Czar published a decree reopening Armenian schools and returning church properties.

In 1907 Catholicos Khrimyan died leaving a grieving nation. Khrimyan’s life was an outstanding and extraordinary example of a leader’s dynamic accomplishment in drawing his people closer and closer to their native land and sense of nationhood, both physically and spiritually.