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March 11, 2007

His Holiness Karekin II Visits Madras and Oldest Armenian Church in Far East

Having arrived at Chennai Airport on the previous night, His Holiness
Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, accompanied
by his delegation visited the Armenian Church of St. Mary (Surb
Astvatsatsin) in Madras on Friday, March 2.  The church, originally built in
1712, is undergoing a comprehensive renovation and is in considerably better
condition today than only a few years ago.  On the grounds of the church is
a cemetery where Archpriest Rev. Fr. Haroutiun Shmavonian is interred.  In
1794, while serving as pastor of the Armenian community in Madras, Fr.
Shmavonian began to publish the first Armenian periodical in the world
entitled `Azdarar’.

Although there are no longer any Armenian residents of Madras, the church
remains continually open.  Many Indians from the surrounding neighborhoods
had come to the church to greet His Holiness upon his arrival and to ask for
his blessings.

His Holiness and the pontifical entourage entered the compound of the church
located on `Armenian Street’ in the center of the city and were greeted by a
number of Indian Orthodox faithful.  As the Catholicos entered the
sanctuary, he offered prayers of thanksgiving for protecting this
significant edifice in the heart of Madras, at a time where there are no
longer any Armenian faithful to care for its maintenance and safekeeping.

His Holiness Karekin II offered a solemn requiem service in the church in
memory of all departed clergymen – bishops, priests and deacons – who have
diligently served the Armenian community of India and the Far East over the
course of the past five centuries.  The Pontiff of All Armenians also laid a
floral wreath at the tomb of Fr. Shmavonian, following which he was guided
on a tour of the church grounds and the historic bell-tower, with its six
cast iron bells, renowned throughout all of Madras. 

While at the church, His Holiness also met with the historical and
architectural preservation committee for Chennai and discussed the efforts
undertaken by the Armenians of Calcutta to preserve and renovate the church
and compound.

In the afternoon, the Catholicos and the pontifical entourage traveled to
the historical St. Thomas Shrine, which rests atop a famous hill in Madras. 
According to Roman Catholic tradition, St. Thomas the Apostle was martyred
on this hill in the first century A.D.  This location was thereafter marked
with a chapel and later a church.  In 1547, the very first Armenian Church
in the Far East was built in this location on the hill.  The original church
building remains to this day as a functioning sanctuary and shrine of the
Roman Catholic faith.  However, its Armenian origin is self-evident by the
countless Armenian gravestones, paintings and inscriptions (most notably on
the Holy Altar) which ornament the interior.  Once again, the Indian
Christian faithful of the area greeted His Holiness and asked him to give
them his pontifical blessings.