Massis Weekly Online – Vol. 25, No. 22.
June 11, 2005
– Pontifical Divine Liturgy At The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels
– Aram Sarkisian Arrives In The United States
– The Twenty Hunchakian Gallows
– His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos Of All Armenians In The Western
Diocese Pontifical Divine Liturgy At The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels
LOS ANGELES — At 3:30 p.m. on June 5, 2005 His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians, celebrated Pontifical Divine Liturgy in the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Led by a vast procession of
Archbishops, Bishops, diocesan clergy, deacons and ecumenical guests,
His Holiness made his official entry into the Cathedral under the
`Amphovani’, the traditional umbrella of the Catholicos. As he proceeded
to the Altar, His Holiness blessed the faithful who had filled the
Cathedral to capacity.
All Diocesan clergy and deacons of the Southern California region took
part in the procession, as well as high ranking clergy, including His
Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese;
His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese; His Eminence Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian; His Eminence
Archbishop Arsen Berberyan; His Eminence Archbishop Nerses Bozabalyan;
His Grace Bishop Vicken Aikazian, Legate of Washington, D.C.; His Grace
Bishop Bagrat Galsdanian, Primate of the Canadian Diocese; and His
Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.
His Holiness was assisted during Divine Liturgy by His Eminences
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Archbishop Khajag Barsamian. The United
Armenian Central Choir of the Western Diocese sang the Liturgy, directed
by Deacon Stepan Gozumian and accompanied by Dr. Ronald Sinanian on the
organ.
During the Divine Liturgy His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
welcomed the Catholicos. `Your Holiness,’ said Archbishop Derderian, `it
gives me a great honor to extend to you a warm welcome to the Western
Diocese on behalf of our Diocesan clergy, Diocesan Council, and the
faithful members, as well as the ecumenical guests and dignitaries who
are present here today.
His Holiness Karekin II is the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and the nation. Since his election to the throne of St.
Gregory the illuminator in 1999 the Armenian Church has become a
dominant presence in the life of the Armenians both in Armenia and the
Diaspora. It is time for the Church of Armenia to recuperate from the
loss of the dark era of the Soviet Union and to radiate the Light of God
from the hearts of Armenians in Armenian and in our communities.’
In his Pontifical Sermon His Holiness Karekin II expressed his gratitude
to the Cardinal for making the Cathedral available for the Pontifical
Divine Liturgy. He extended to the faithful his warm and heartfelt
blessings form the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Catholicos urged
the faithful to renew and reawaken within them the Christian faith and
the love towards the Armenian Apostolic Church, as we celebrate together
the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet. He
continued saying `the ills and difficulties of Armenia and the Armenian
Apostolic Church will disappear’ when we are connected in Christ.
On this auspicious occasion, in appreciation of the hard work,
unrelenting devotion and dedication of His Eminence Archbishop
Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, to the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, the Western Diocese and the faithful, His Holiness
presented to Archbishop Derderian a `Banagia’, the official symbol of
the rank of Archbishop.
In celebration of the 1600th anniversary of the alphabet the `Banagia’
is adorned with the original 36 Armenian letters. His Holiness also gave
a cross to Cardinal Roger Mahony expressing his gratitude for allowing
the Western Diocese the use of the Cathedral.
Following the Sermon His Holiness Karekin II, as well as the high-raking
clergy participating in the Liturgy and over 25 clergy administered Holy
Communion to the faithful.
-Aram Sarkisian Arrives In The United States
Former Prime Minister Will Be Keynote Speaker At The 90th Anniversary
Commemoration Of 20 Gallows
GLENDALE — Aram Sarkisian, the leader of Armenia’s `Hanrapetutyun’
(Republic) opposition party, has arrived in the U.S. at the invitation
of Social Democratic Hunchakian Party. He will be the keynote speaker at
an event dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the hanging of 20 Hunchak
party leaders by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. The event will be held in
Glendale on June 11th at United Community Church (333 E. Colorado St).
Sarkisian’s first stop was the nation’s capital Washington DC where he
is met with officials in the National Security Council and the State
Department as well as members of the U.S. Congress.
Sarkisian, who briefly served as Armenia’s prime minister in 1999-2000,
after the assassination of his brother Vasken Sarkisian, put his visit
in the context of recent U.S. calls for democratization in the South
Caucasus and elsewhere in the world. `Western governments are always
elected by the people and that is called democracy,’ he said. `The
Russians, on the other hand, support the likes of Saddam Hussein,
[Belarus President Aleksandr] Lukashenko, [Armenian President Robert]
Kocharian who is totally rejected by our people. That is why Russia is
losing.
`Russia is offering us nothing, while the West is urging us not to rig
elections and to form legitimate judicial, legislative and executive
bodies.’
Sarkisian and his `Hanrapetutyun’ party, which is a key member of
Armenia’s largest opposition alliance, has been the most vocal opponent
of Robert Kocharian, who’s re-election in 2004 was marred by massive
voter frauds, arrests and brutal dispersion of peaceful demonstrators
opposing his illegal power grab.
In April of 2004, special security forces using water cannons and stun
grenades chased thousands of demonstrators away from the presidential
palace, and later seized and ransacked the offices of opposition parties
including `Hanrapeputyun’ which sustained the most damage. Aram
Sarkisian had to stay in hiding for a few days fearing arrest by
the Kocharian regime. Only condemnation and pressure by European Union
countries forced the government to back down.
– Biography:
Aram Sakisian was born on January 2, 1961 in the village of Ararat in
the Ararat region. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering from
Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1989.
>From 1980-1982 he served in the Soviet Army. For the next four years he
worked first as a foreman, later laboratory head, then assistant to the
chief engineer and eventually chief engineer in Araratardshin Trust
Company. From 1993-1998 he worked first as an assistant to the director,
later he was appointed deputy to the general director, administrative
director and eventually became the general director of the Araratcement
Company.
>From 1999-2000 he was prime minister of the RA and from 2000-2002 he was
the general director of Araratcement CJSC Company. On May 25, 2003 he
was elected to the NA from the proportional
list of the opposition Justice Alliance.
Mr. Sarkisian is married and has three children.
– The Twenty Hunchakian Gallows
The 7th General Convention of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party which
was held in Constanta, Romania, in 1913, had a unique and great
importance not only for the Hunchaks, but in the history of the Armenian
people as a whole. During the Convention, members stressed their concern
of the Ittihad (Young Turk) government’s blatant disregard of the
Armenian lives who resided in Historic Armenia.
The Hunchaks feared that this disregard would only escalate as time
pasted. The Hunchaks also stressed the importance of a United
Independent Armenia which would be impossible under the racist
and dictatorial Young Turk govern-ment’s rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Thus the convention adjourned with two main objectives:
I – As stated in its original program, the party was to move from licit
to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covered organisation.
II – To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Ittihad (Young Turk)
party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909,
and thus the same leaders who at that moment were planning the
annihilation of the Armenian people.
Unfortunately, these secret objectives were passed on to the Turks by an
Armenian agent for the government; consequently as soon as the delegates
arrived in Constantinople, they were arrested. By
the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty Hunchak leaders
were arrested.
After spending two years in the horror known as Turkish jails, and
lengthy mock trials, twenty prominent figures – Paramaz, Dr. Benne, Aram
Ach’ekbashian, Vanig and others were sentenced to death by hanging. Few
weeks after the beginning of the Armenian Genocide on June 15, 1915, all
twenty men were hung in the central square of Constantinople, know as
Sultan Bayazid Square.
The destiny of the Twenty Martyrs was intertwined with the destiny of
their nation. They knew what was coming, sounded the alarm but were
betrayed by a fellow Armenian. They believed that an
independent Armenia will be born from the ashes of the old one, they
were right.
Over the past decades, the Twenty Martyrs were a source of inspiration
for thousands of young Armenians through out the world, but most
especially to those who joined the Social Democrat
Hunchakian Party, fought under its banner, and in its ranks worked for
the welfare of all Armenians.
Today the Armenian Republic is a living example of what the Twenty
Martyrs and thousands of other Hunchakian heroes fought and died for.
But the struggle must and will continue, until the immediate and future
objectives of the Social Democrat Hunchak Party and the Armenian people
are accomplished.
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