The Army Chaplaincy program of the Armenian Church was initiated on 13 November 1997, upon the joint initiative of His Holiness Karekin I, of blessed memory, and Mr. Vazgen Sarkissian, who was then serving as the Defense Minister of Armenia.

 The first Army Chaplain to be appointed was Archimandrite Vrtanes Abrahamian. In 2004 Reverend Father Norayr Simonyan was appointed as the army Chaplain and serves as the head of the program at present.

 During the course of history the Army did not have any appointed Chaplains or religious advisors.

 There were religious advisors assigned to the army of the first independent Republic of Armenia. There was even an attempt made to formalize this service to the army with creation of by-laws in order to regulate their activity.

 In 1997, with this same goal in mind, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Defense Ministry of Armenia, in which the sphere, goals and objectives and structure of the chaplains’ activity was specified and agreed upon.

 The Army Chaplaincy has been initiated primarily in the frontier regiments of the Armenian Army, the military educational institutions, as well as in the regiments of the Army of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh. Permanent Chapels have been built in some regiments. Bibles, copies of “Etchmiadzin” Monthly Review and the Biweekly Magazine “Christian Armenia” of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, literature and booklets of spiritual nature have been given to the regiments’ libraries.

 The Chaplains deliver lectures, provide counseling service to the soldiers, organize showings of educational films, celebrate church services, perform sacraments, and organize pilgrimages, etc.  There are many instances of soldiers being spiritually awakened to the teachings of the Mother Church.

 The Chaplaincy program is formalized within the structures of the Defense Ministry.

 Presently there are over 35 clergymen serving in the Army chaplaincy structures, comprised of married and unmarried Priests and Deacons.

 The Army Chaplaincy has close contacts with the similar programs of Great Britain, France and Greece. The Army Chaplains of Great Britain and Greece have paid visits to Armenia with the aim of providing assistance to the program. Army Chaplains have also visited the programs in Greece.  An exchange of information and ideas in the spirit of cooperation is ongoing.

 In February of 2003 Reverend Father Sanosian participated in the 14th Annual Conference of Chaplains of the NATO member-countries. In February 2004 representatives participated in the 15th Conference to in Greece.  Participation in the conferences brings forward new ideas, with better ways to serve the spiritual needs of those in providing military service to Armenia.