Press-Enterprise (subscription), CA
June 18 2005

Pontiff visits, gives blessing

01:11 AM PDT on Saturday, June 18, 2005

By DAVID OLSON / The Press-Enterprise

RANCHO MIRAGE – Minutes after watching His Holiness Karekin II bless
what will one day be the church sanctuary where she’ll worship, Linda
Jones still had a look of wonderment on her face.

The Sky Valley woman never thought she’d see the pontiff of the
Armenian Apostolic Church in person.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Jones, 56. “You just know the Lord
is doing great things.”

AP photo
His Holiness Karekin II, the pontiff of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, visited the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Desert on
Friday.

Karekin II visited the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Desert on
Friday as part of a three-week visit to the United States from his
home in Armenia.

“His Holiness wanted to meet with the faithful, re-energize them and
inspire them to fulfill the motto of the visit: a renaissance of
faith,” said the Rev. Ktrij Devejian, the pontiff’s foreign press
secretary.

Following a 1,700-year tradition, the leader of the world’s 7 million
Armenian Christians used his right thumb to spread sanctified oil
from olives and flowers onto a cross carved in a adobe-like touf
stone, which is indigenous to Armenia. Several people wept as they
watched the pontiff say blessings in Armenian asking God for
protection and guidance.

The stone will be placed at the foot of the church’s altar, said the
Rev. Stepanos Dingilian, pastor of the church. The $1.2-million
sanctuary is scheduled to open in mid-2006.

“It has been an honor just to see him,” Steve Balian, 58, said at a
banquet in the church social hall.

“The Armenians here needed a church and a home to worship the Lord,”
said Balian, of Rancho Mirage, between bites of tabouli. “The church
is how we Armenians come together.”