YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis has awarded the Papal Medal to Armenian publicist Khachik Grigoryan for publishing Commentary on the Letter to Hebrews by Cyril of Alexandria.

Grigoryan is the Director and Editor at the Ankyunacar Publishing Agency.

Only 6 pages of the Commentary on the Letter to Hebrews were preserved in the world and the work was considered lost until 2020, when Armenian historian Hakob Kyoseyan found it by chance at the Matenadaran in Yerevan. The work was being kept as part of a collection. Upon hearing the news, Grigoryan published it in Classical Armenian and English translation.

With support from various sponsors, Ankyunacar published over 100 copies of the book and sent it to various organizations. The book was sent to the Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I, to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople and the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem and Pope Francis. “The reaction of our Church’s high-ranking representatives was very important for us, but their positive response was natural, but when Pope Francis responded it was really unexpected,” Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS.

Pope Francis awarded the Papal Medal to Grigoryan for translating the book, and a letter sent to the publisher says that the Pope appreciates the emotions with which the publishers shared the work with him. The letter says that the Pope remembers the publishers in his prayers.

Other notable works by Ankyunacar include the translation of Confessions by Saint Augustine, the publication of the collection of articles by Professor of Armenian Studies Charles Dowsett (University of Oxford), English-Armenian and Armenian-English, Armenian-Iranian, Armenian-Russian dictionaries.

Angela Hambardzumyan

Photos by Tatev Duryan