PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: jakeg@armeniandiocese.org
Website:

June 4, 2004
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COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL MEET WITH CATHOLICOS

Last year, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians, invited diocesan councils throughout the world to hold
meetings at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The Catholicos, during a visit to New York in the fall, personally
extended his invitation to the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern).

Responding to that invitation, the Council members decided to go to
Armenia at the end of October — at their own expense — to hold their
regular business meeting and have an audience with the Catholicos and
other church leaders.

“What we’re trying to do is really create a closer partnership between
the Diocese and the Mother See, between this council and the Vehapar,”
said Diocesan Council Chairman Haig Dadourian. “We felt the best way to
do that is through physical closeness, and sharing of each other’s goals
and concerns.”

Most of the council members have been to Armenia, but a couple have yet
to visit. Dadourian said another benefit of the meeting is for those
who will be seeing their homeland for the first time make the journey.

“Going to Armenia makes a very lasting impression,” Dadourian said. “I
don’t want to get so dramatic as to say you’re never the same; but it
does make a lasting, positive impression.”

Along with attending a couple of days worth of meetings at Etchmiadzin,
the council members will also tour Armenia, and visit sites run by the
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) — the Diocesan-affiliated international
humanitarian aid organization. They will also tour some orphanages and
meet with children helped by the Children of Armenia Sponsorship Program
(CASP), run by the Diocesan Women’s Guild.

“It’s important that the leadership of the Armenian Church throughout
the Diaspora go and visit the Mother See, which has been the center of
our Christian faith for more than 1,700 years,” Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, said. “They should pray in
the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, visit historic sites, and see
the development of the independent Republic of Armenia. It’s important
for every Armenian to go, especially those Armenians in leadership
roles.”

— 6/4/04

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress