Archbishop Goriun Babian visits Abu Dhabi
Azad-Hye, Dubai
23 December 2006
On 7th November 2006 Archbishop Goriun Babian, Catholicosal Representative
of the Diocese of Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf countries (based in Kuwait
City) arrived in Abu Dhabi on a special mission.
Accompanied by Der Aram Deyirmenjian, pastor of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) Armenian community and members of the representative and executive
bodies of the Abu Dhabi Armenian community, His Eminence paid an official
visit to "Qasr Al Bahr" Palace, where he met with the Director of the
Presidential Affairs His Excellency Ali Salem Obaid Al Kaabi. The purpose of
this visit was to express gratitude for the recently issued decree by the
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi granting 2.500 square meters land to the Armenian
community in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi to build a church and community
complex.
Archbishop Goriun evoked the memory of the late President of the UAE, Sheikh
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Two Catholicoses of Cilicia (Karekin II and Aram
I) had the opportunity to meet with the late President in 1995 and 1998
respectively. During both meetings a request for providing a piece of land
for the Armenian Church was put forward. It is worth mentioning that Sheikh
Zayed granted US$ 100.000 in 1998 to the Armenian community, as part of his
support to the foreign communities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Archbishop Goriun thanked the Government of Abu Dhabi for bringing the long
time dream of the Armenian community closer to reality and said, "with your
noble act, you inspired us hope that in the near future the members of our
Church will have their own place of worship and community center". His
Eminence briefed Al Kaabi on the activities of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
and the structure and mission of the Diocese of Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf
countries, highlighting the fact that throughout history the Armenians have
lived in brotherly and peaceful terms with the Arabs. He reminded the noble
Arab stance towards the Armenian refugees who escaped the Genocide and found
in the Arab societies the perfect environment for revival and full-fledged
involvement and contribution into the economic progress of their new
habitants.
Referring to the limited financial resources of the small Abu Dhabi Armenian
community, Archbishop Babian expressed hope that the Government of Abu Dhabi
would provide economic and moral support for the success of the
aforementioned project, in the same way it did in the past. He took the
opportunity also to elaborate on the special role of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia, under the leadership of His Holiness Aram I, in creating channels
of dialogue with all religions and especially between Islam and
Christianity. In this context Archbishop Babian expressed his willingness to
repeat what has been already achieved in Kuwait during the visit of His
Holiness Aram I, in the from of press conference and other academically
attributed activities with the participation of scholars and official
representatives.
Al Kaabi highly appreciated the visit and announced that "through such
encounters we come to know the Armenian community far better and our
relationship moves smoothly forward". He congratulated the Armenian
community for receiving the church plot and expressed hope that the
Government of Abu Dhabi will be able to provide further support for the
overall success of the project. Referring to the Christian communities in
the United Arab Emirates Al Kaabi noted that "the UAE Government does not
practice any sort of discrimination between Muslims and Christians. We all
live here in an atmosphere of mutual friendship and respect. Our State is
against any kind of religious extremism. I have known Lebanon through my
frequent visits. Particularly in these days it is very important to create
an ambiance of cooperation between the two religions and their followers by
utilizing the spirit of dialogue. We need the advice of spiritual leaders of
your caliber in order to facilitate this dialogue and to reach to positive
results. The Americans and the West do not know us in the proper sense and
they have misconception about what Islam and the Arabs represent. We need to
work together to correct this ideas".
Al Kaabi promised to undertake all measures necessary to arrange a meeting
for the Armenian side with the Crown Prince and the President of the UAE in
the future.
Visit to the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia (09 November 2006)
As in all previous visits to Abu Dhabi, His Eminence Archbishop Goriun
Babian paid a visit to the Embassy of Armenia. H.E. Ambassador Vahagn
Melikian, who has been appointed to this position since May 2006 (following
a five year tenure by Ambassador Arshag Poladian), showed a warm welcome.
Archbishop Babian briefed the Ambassador on the present day status of the
Armenian communities in the Gulf countries and gave a synopsis of the
accomplished achievements and other projects under process. In his turn, the
Ambassador gave an account on the future projects related to the Embassy.
His Eminence expressed interest to visit the construction site of the new
Embassy in order to observe the ongoing construction works on the piece of
land granted by the UAE authorities. The visit was materialized on 11
November 2006, accompanied by Vahe Toukhmanian, Chairman of the Council of
the Abu Dhabi Armenian Community. After witnessing the serious work that has
been done so far, Archbishop Babian thanked the chief architects Berj
Aprahamian and Salah Hariri for their volunteer designing work and
supervision of the project. The two architects informed him that the
construction of the two main buildings will be over in six months time.
Visit to the weekly school
In the afternoon of the same day (11 November 2006), Archbishop Babian
visited the weekly Armenian school of Abu Dhabi, which has recently
celebrated its 25th anniversary. Veteran Head of School Tamar Der Ohanesian
welcomed the Catholicosal Representative and informed him that the number of
the students who are following Armenian language, religion and history
lessons in the school was 50, covering all stages from Kindergarten to the
eight grade.
Meeting with the members of legislative and executive bodies in Abu Dhabi
On the same evening Archbishop Babian held a consultative meeting with the
members of the legislative and executive bodies in Abu Dhabi, during which
the following two subjects were discussed:
1- Bearing in mind that the four-year period of the Representative Council
(Temagan Joghov) in Kuwait and the other Arabian Gulf countries will come to
its end in December 2006, it is necessary to form an Election Committee
which will supervise the election process of the new Council. Following a
brief exchange of views, two probable dates were set forward but the final
one would be decided upon consultation with the Councils of Kuwait and the
Northern Emirates (Sharjah – Dubai).
2- The construction of the church in the newly granted piece of land was
discussed. It was decided to do some preliminary research at the present and
leave the concluding decisions to the discretion of the new Council’s
(post-election) meeting. Archbishop Goriun visited also the site of the
future church and explored the possibilities of constructing adjacent
buildings. Holy Mass was performed in the Greek Orthodox Saint Nicolaos
Church on 10th November 2006 during which Archbishop Babian reminded the Abu
Dhabi Armenians that they are witnessing important developments in the
history of the community, stressing that the decades long dream of having
own church is coming true with the collective efforts of all the members of
the community.
Source: Excerpts from the report prepared by the office of the Diocese of
Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf Country, 22 November 2006. English translation
by Azad-Hye.
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Photos:
1- Archbishop Babian with His Excellency Ali Salem Obaid Al Kaabi, Director
of the Presidential Affairs in Abu Dhabi.
2- Al Kaabi with the other members of the Armenian delegation.
3- In the construction site of the new building of the Embassy of Armenia.
4- Group photo with the students and educational staff of the Abu Dhabi
Armenian community weekly school.
5- With the student (Abu Dhabi).
6- With the educational staff (Abu Dhabi).
See Armenian text and photos at:
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