PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Communications Officer
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: jakeg@armeniandiocese.org
Website:
August 5, 2004
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Week of July 30 to August 5, 2004
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CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN IRAQ WORK TO RECOVER FROM BLASTS

Iraqi Christians, including Armenians, worked this week to recover from
the blasts on Sunday that targeted their sanctuaries during services.
The first car bomb went off on Sunday (8/1) outside an Armenian Catholic
church in Baghdad just 15 minutes into its evening service. Five
churches in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul were hit, killing at
least 12 and injuring dozens more. Fortunately, no Armenians were among
those killed or seriously injured.

Amid fears of future violence and possible assassination of religious
leaders, Christian churches are taking precautions against future
attack, by posting armed guards, closing nearby streets, and installing
barbed wire barriers. Others are scaling back services.

“I don’t think we’ll have mass next Sunday,” Nubar Antoine, a member of
the Armenian Catholic leadership council, said in one news report.

The Armenian Church community in Iraq has not made any special plea for
international financial or material aid. The Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern) remains in contact with Armenian community
leaders in Iraq and will keep you informed.

To learn more about these attacks, click to our website:
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(Source: Associated Press, 8/01/04; New York Sun, 8/3/04, Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 8/5/04)
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CATHOLICOS SENDS SYMPATHIES TO POPE

On Wednesday (8/4), His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, sent a letter of sympathy and support to
Pope John Paul II, following the bombings of churches in Iraq.

The letter states, in part: “We are saddened that some extreme elements
are attempting to endanger the centuries of friendship and peaceful
co-existence among the Christian and Muslim peoples of the East, and
offer our prayers to the Almighty that the love of our Lord Jesus Christ
will enter into the hearts of men, reconcile them one to another, and
that violence and war will be eliminated from the region and all of
humanity.”

The Catholicos of All Armenians has sent a similar letter to the
patriarch of the Armenian Catholics, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX.

(Source: Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, 8/4/04)
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CLERGY AND FRIENDS GATHER TO SAY GOODBYE TO BISHOP HOUSSIG

On Monday (8/2), Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, performed the
funeral services for Bishop Houssig Bagdasian at the St. Mary Church of
Livingston, NJ. The church, where Bishop Bagdasian — the first
American-born bishop of the Armenian Church — served as pastor for many
years, was filled with clergymen, family of the bishop, and
parishioners. For more on the service, and to read a eulogy delivered
by the Primate, visit or website:
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(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 5/2/04)
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MIDWEST HYE CAMP BRINGS TOGETHER RECORD NUMBER OF CAMPERS

This year Midwest Hye Camp in Illinois has a record number of campers –
144 — for its one-week session which started Sunday (8/1). Campers
participate in a variety of classes, including religion and heritage,
and participate in an Olympics sporting challenge. To see pictures and
read news from the campers, click to our camp web log:

(Source: Hye Camp, 8/4/04)
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YOUNG SINGERS FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP

Twelve young singers from 10 parishes are at the Diocese’s Ararat Center
this week for a unique leadership retreat organized by the Association
of Armenian Church Choirs of America (AACCA). The program, which runs
from Tuesday (8/3) to Sunday (8/8), will teach singers skills to become
junior choir leaders in their home parishes. For more details and to
see a list of participants, click to the News and Events section of our
website:
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(Source: AACCA, 8/4/04)
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UPDATE ON ARMENIAN WAITING TRANSPLANT

Past e-bulletins have told you about Setrak Nalbandian, a parishioner of
the St. Peter Church of Watervliet, NY, who is in Indianapolis, IN,
desperately awaiting a liver and intestine transplant. For an update on
his condition, click to our website:
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(Source: St. Peter Church, 8/5/04)
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