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
CROSSROADS July 14, 2005
DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP SHAHE AJEMIAN
Archbishop Shahe Ajemian, who most recently was the Dean of the
Department of Theology at Yerevan State University, died yesterday in
Armenia. Archbishop Ajemian was 78 years old and had been sick for some
time. He was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1926. He is a graduate of the
Theological Seminary of the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias Lebanon, where
he was ordained a celibate priest in 1947. A noted scholar and teacher, he
furthered his studies at the University of Brussels. From 1965 to 1994 he
was a member of the St. James congregation in Jerusalem. In 1994 he was
appointed to head the Department of Theology at Yerevan State University.
V. REV. ANOUSHAVAN APPOINTED
V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, the Vicar General of the Eastern
Prelacy, has been appointed Ecumenical Officer in the United States for the
Eastern and Western Prelacies. The appointment was announced by His Holiness
Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. Hayr Anoushavan will carry
out his new ecumenical duties while continuing to serve as the Vicar General
of the Eastern Prelacy.
POWERFUL EXPLOSION AFFECTS CILICIAN CATHOLICATE
On Tuesday, July 12, a powerful explosion, heard many miles away, took
place in a Christian neighborhood in northern suburban Beirut, nearby the
Catholicate of Cilicia. Lebanon’s Defense Minister was wounded in the
bombing that killed at least two people and injured a dozen others.
A Press Release from the Catholicate said that the explosion took place
about 10:30 a.m, near the Catholicosal complex on the road to the mountain
town of Bikfaya where the See’s Theological Seminary is located. The blast
shattered windows of the Veharan (the Catholicos’ residence and
administrative center) and light damage was incurred to the main reception
room and the bookstore.
ARCHBISHOP OSHAGAN WILL TRAVEL TO
BOSTON THIS WEEKEND
Archbishop Oshagan will be in Massachusetts this weekend. On Sunday he
will preside over the Divine Liturgy at St. Stephen’s Church in Watertown.
CATHOLICOS CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN LONDON
His Holiness Aram I condemned the terrorist attacks in London that took
the lives of many innocent individuals and injured hundreds. In a letter
sent to the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan
Williams of Canterbury, His Holiness expressed condolences, sympathy and
support for the English people.
His Holiness said, “Such terrorist acts are against the religious,
moral and human values and principles. We must join our churches and
religions to condemn violence in all its forms and expressions.”
His Holiness also expressed concern and support to the families of the
victims, and wished a quick recovery to all those who were injured.
CILICIAN SEE’S THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
COMPLETES 75TH ACADEMIC YEAR
The Seminary of the Catholicate of Cilicia has successfully completed
its 75th academic year under the guidance of His Holiness Aram I and with
the cooperative efforts of the administration, staff and students.
“Throughout the year we tried to renew our old selves, to become new
beings through Christ and our Seminary’s 75-year old rich heritage. It has
always been said that the Seminary is not a school in the usual meaning of
the word, it’s not only an institution that delivers education; the Seminary
is all these, but it is also an institution that shapes and forms characters
with faith, Armenian culture and values; it is to follow the path of our
ancestors, the path of faith and love, light and hope, service and holiness,
and integrity and work,” said Fr. Bartev Gulumian, the Dean of the Seminary.
The Seminary’s 75th anniversary is being commemorated worldwide during
2005. His Holiness is making visits to all of the dioceses under the
jurisdiction of the Cilician See specifically for this purpose.
CATHOLICOS WILL VISIT EASTERN PRELACY IN OCTOBER
His Holiness Aram I will visit the Eastern Prelacy from October 19 to
November 1. The primary purpose of the visit is to celebrate the 75th
anniversary of the Theological Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon. This year is
also the tenth anniversary of His Holiness’ election and consecration as
Catholicos of Cilicia. Full details of the events will be forthcoming.
GRANDDAUGHTER FOR REV. FR. VARTAN AND YR. PAULINE KASSABIAN
A joyous message from Rev. Fr. Vartan and Yeretzgeen Pauline Kassabian,
of St. Gregory Church, North Andover, Massachusetts, announced the birth of
their first grandchild, Grace Katherine born on June 28. Parents are Scott
and Johanna Gauvin from Springfield, Illinois.
Der Hayr and Yeretzgeen write: “We are so blessed to have a beautiful
little girl in our lives. May God bless her and keep her healthy through her
new life. We wanted to share this great news with all our friends and
thought the Crossroads was a good way to get the good news out!”
NAREG SRPAZAN AT THE PRELACY
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, ecumenical officer for the Catholicate of
Cilicia, visited the Prelacy this week. Nareg Srpazan is on several
different ecumenical missions on behalf of His Holiness Aram I.
Bishop Nareg previously served within the Eastern Prelacy, first in
Vancouver, and later as pastor of Sts. Vartanantz Church in Ridgefield, New
Jersey.
LECTURE BY ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
CITES VIGEN GUROIAN ON ETHICAL THINKING
In a lecture delivered at Oxford, Archbishop Rowan Williams of
Canterbury, cites several “great thinkers,” including Vigen Guroian, in the
field of ethics. He writes:
“Bulgakov doesn’t elaborate this at great length, but there’s actually
quite a lot of work to be done on what ethics would look like in the context
of a doctrine of holy wisdom like this. And those great thinkers who in the
last 15 or so years have begun to shift Christian ethics towards a
different, church-related model are moving in precisely this direction.
Whether it’s Alistair MacIntyre, Stanley Hauerwas, John Millbank or Vigen
Guroian (himself an Armenian Christian) all of these writers in their
different ways seem to be saying that ethics is to be understood only in the
context of the body of Christ. We are not talking about duties and rules,
nor are we talking about the freedom of self-expression. When we talk about
ethics we are talking about the realization of wisdom, not human prudence,
but the self-sacrificing wisdom of God which is the heart of all reality,
and the centre of all life.”
The entire lecture is available at:
TODAY IS BASTILLE DAY
Today, July 14, is Bastille Day, a national holiday in France similar to
the U.S.’s Fourth of July. The day commemorates the storming of the
Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789, and marked the beginning of the
French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison in France where the monarchs
often imprisoned dissidents. Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners
at the time of the “storming” it had become a symbol against oppression and
for liberty, equality, and fraternity.
SONS AND GRANDSONS OF ST. GREGORY
REMEMBERED THIS WEEK
This Saturday, July 16, the Armenian Church commemorates the lives of
the sons and grandsons of St. Gregory the Illuminator, Sts. Aristakes,
Vrtanes, Housik, Grigoris, and Daniel (who actually was not related but was
a valued student of St. Gregory).
All of the above mentioned continued the work of St. Gregory, preaching
the word of Christ to pagans, at great cost to their own lives.
St. Gregory had two sons: Aristakes and Vrtanes. Aristakes succeeded
Gregory as Catholicos and was martyred around 333 A.D. Aristakes represented
the Armenian Church at the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325. It was
at this council that the Nicene Creed, recited to this day during the Divine
Liturgy, was written and adopted. Vertanes-at this time over 70 years
old-was called upon to become catholicos and served for eight years until
his death. Vrtanes had two sons, Grigoris and Housig. Grigoris preached in
the northern provinces of Armenia (now Georgia) where he was martyred.
Housik, although not a clergyman, was called upon to assume the catholicosal
throne. He was martyred in 347.
Daniel, who as noted above, was not related to Gregory, is included
with the sons and grandsons. He was chosen to succeed Housik as catholicos,
but never actually served as he too was martyred one year later in 348.
ARMENIAN CATALOGUE AVAILABLE
In recent weeks the Bookstore has received many new books in Armenian.
For a catalogue of available books in Armenian send a request by email to
books@armenianprelacy.org or contact the Prelacy Bookstore at 212-689-7810.
AND FINALLY IN HONOR OF JULY, THE MONTH OF LIBERTY.
“Liberty!” answered from on high
The sovereign voice of Destiny:
“Wilt thou enroll thyself henceforth
A soldier true of Liberty?
The path is thorny all the way,
And many trials wait for thee;
Too strait and narrow is this world
For those who loveth Liberty.”
The fourth stanza from a poem entitled “Liberty”
by Michael Nalbandian (1830-1866)
Translated by Alice Stone Blackwell
Calendar of Events
July 23, 2005-Dinner Dance celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Ladies’
Guild of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island.
August 8-18-Christian Educational Program in Armenia for the Prelacy
sponsored orphans (ages 12 and 13), at Dzaghgatsor, conducted by V. Rev. Fr.
Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar General and Dn. Shant Kazanjian, Director of the
Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC).
August 27-National Educators’ Seminar sponsored by the Armenian National
Education Committee (ANEC), at Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, NJ.
September 25-35th anniversary of St. Gregory Armenian Church of North
Andover, Massachusetts, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan.
October 19-November 1-Visit of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia, to the Eastern Prelacy, commemorating the 75th anniversary
of the establishment of the Cilician Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon.
October 28-29-Mashtots Conference celebrating the 1600th anniversary of the
founding of the Armenian alphabet, at Harvard University. Jointly sponsored
by the Eastern Prelacy and Harvard University Mashtots Chair, Department of
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
November 11-13-Mini-Datev program for the Midwest parishes.
March 17-19, 2006-Sunday School Teachers’ Conference at the Wonderland
Conference and Retreat Center in Sharon, MA.
Parishes of the Eastern Prelacy are invited to send information about their
major events to be included in the calendar. Send to:
info@armenianprelacy.org
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