PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: info@armenianprelacy.org
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
June 9, 2005
ARMENIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES DISCOVERY OF
THE RELICS OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR THIS WEEK
This Saturday, June 11, the Armenian Church commemorates the discovery
of the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The Church calendar
memorializes its first Catholicos and Patron Saint three times each year:
Entrance into the Pit; Emergence from the Pit; and Discovery of his Remains.
Relics of St. Gregory are kept at the See of Etchmiadzin and See of Cilicia,
enclosed in metallic arms, which are used to stir the Holy Oil (Muron) every
seven years.
BIBLE TRANSLATION GROUP HAS FORMATIVE MEETING IN MONTREAL
A new Bible translation group, headed by His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan, met in Montreal this week to begin planning their forthcoming
work. The original team included the late Archbishop Zareh Aznavorian who
was a recognized biblical scholar. Archbishop Oshagan who worked with
Archbishop Zareh since the founding of the project in the early 1980s, will
continue the project with Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, Prelate of Canada, and
V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar of the Prelacy. The three met in
Montreal this week to confer and develop a schedule to complete the
translation of the Old Testament. The New Testament was completed some years
ago and has already been published in several printings.
Archbishop Oshagan recalled that one of the final thoughts spoken by
Archbishop Zareh was the lament, “The Old Testaments remains half finished.”
“The continuation of this work will be the best way to honor his
memory,” said Oshagan Srpazan.
PRELATE WILL BE IN PHILADELPHIA THIS SUNDAY
Archbishop Oshagan will preside over the Divine Liturgy at St. Gregory
the Illuminator Church in Philadelphia, this Sunday, June 12.
PRELATE ATTENDS SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNIC IN NEW JERSEY
Last Sunday, June 5, as we reported, Archbishop Oshagan presided over
the Divine Liturgy at Sts. Vartanantz Church in Ridgefield, New Jersey.
Immediately after the services, he joined the annual Sunday school picnic
that took place in Westwood, New Jersey.
V. REV. FR. SHAHE REPRESENTS PRELATE AT LUNCHEON
Today, June 9, V. Rev. Fr. Shahe Panossian, pastor of Sts. Vartanantz
Church, Ridgefield, NJ, represented Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan at a
luncheon hosted by Edward Cardinal Egan, Bishop of New York, in honor of His
Beatitude Emmanuel III, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldean Church. The
luncheon took place at the Catholic Center in New York City.
DATEV SUMMER PROGRAM REMINDER
The St. Gregory of Datev Institute Summer Program has nearly reached its
capacity. As in previous years the weeklong intensive program will take
place at the St. Mary of Providence Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania, from
July 3 to 10. Datev is considered to be the best Armenian youth program
available for junior and senior high school students.
For information contact the AREC office, 212-689-7810.
GUROIAN LECTURE TOMORROW
The 2005 annual Florovsky Memorial Lecture will be delivered by
Professor Vigen Guroian, tomorrow, Friday, June 10, 7:30 pm, at St. Vladimir’s
Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. His lecture, entitled
“I Confess the Cross Because I Know of the Resurrection,” will take place in
the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium. The Florovsky Memorial Lecture, held in
different locations each year, honors Fr. Georges Florovsky, eminent
Orthodox theologian, historian, and Slavic scholar who was the dean of St.
Vladimir’s Seminary from 1949 to 1955.
PRELATE WILL VISIT ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR IN DC
This Monday, June 13, Archbishop Oshagan will visit the new ambassador
of Armenia to the United States, H. E. Tatoul Markarian, in Washington, D.C.
The Prelate will be accompanied with Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aktavoukian, pastor of
Soorp Khatch Church, Bethesda, Maryland, and Dr. Dertad Manguikian, member
of the Prelacy Executive Council. The recently assigned Ambassador presented
his Letter of Credence to President Bush on May 26.
ARAM I ADDRESSES CONFERENCE
His Holiness Aram I addressed an international inter-religious
conference in Geneva this week. Speaking about the role of religions in a
new world context, the Catholicos and Moderator of the WCC, said: “Religion
has become a major player on the global scene. Religion has no identifiable
boundaries; it has become omnipresent in society and integral to our public
and private life. For some, religion is in process of self-articulation and
is becoming more relevant by adapting to the new world context; while for
others, the credibility of religion itself is at stake. The historical
circumstances and tremendous changes taking place in our societies call the
religions to engage in a critical process of understanding. Clearly, return
of religion and return to religion are facts of life.”
The conference, organized by the World Council of Churches, was attended
by more than 150 representatives of various religions and countries.
During the same conference His Holiness responded to a comment made by a
Turkish professor who said: “Religions should not educate new generations
with hatred towards other nations.”
His Holiness responded: “It is true that love, mutual understanding and
respect should be the basis of education by all religions. But the
collective memory of a nation should not be forgotten; its suffering should
not be forgotten; should not neglect the violation of justice and human
rights.”
SIAMANTO ACADEMY GRADUATION
The graduation ceremony for the Siamanto Academy will take place
Saturday, June 25, at 2 pm, at the Armenian Center in Woodside, New York.
JUNE 14 IS FLAG DAY
Tuesday, June 14, is Flag Day, marking the 228th anniversary of the
official adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. Although
through the years many called for a national day of commemoration for the
flag, and some states did in fact celebrate the day, it was not until 1949
that President Harry Truman signed legislation making June 14th, Flag Day, a
day of national observance.
TURKEY GETS TOUGH WITH THE RED FOX
The May 29th issue of the Parade Magazine, which as a supplement to many
Sunday newspapers around the country has a circulation of millions, had a
small item about name changes in Turkey. Describing Turkey as being “a bit
oversensitive,” the items goes on to say, “.its native red fox and wild
sheep are getting new monikers because the old ones refer to Kurdistan and
Armenia.. The fox, Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica, is now just Vulpes Vulpes;
and the sheep, Ovis Armeniana, is now Ovis Orientalls Anatolicus. Turkey
says the old names were given ‘with ill intentions.'”
The article explains Turkey’s opposition to “Kurdish separatists,” and
denial of the “massacre of 1.5 Armenians in the years 1915-23.”
THE BIBLE IN 50 WORDS
This little piece, which has been circulating for some time, has a new
relevance in this day and age of “instant and quick” everything. It is the
Bible in 50 words:
God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split, Joseph ruled, Jacob
fooled, bush talked, Moses balked, Pharaoh plagued, people walked, sea
divided, tablets guided, promise landed, Saul freaked, David peeked,
prophets warned, Jesus born, God walked, love talked, anger crucified, hope
died, Love rose, Spirit flamed, Word spread, God remained.
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