Armenian patriarch to preside at church
By Emanuel Parker Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News
Article Launched:09/28/2007 09:00:04 PM PDT
PASADENA – His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
all Armenians, will preside over a ceremony to consecrate the main altar
of newly refurbished St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenia Apostolic Church.
The event begins at 6 p.m. Monday at St. Gregory, 2215 E. Colorado Blvd.
He will lead a pontifical procession and be assisted by His Eminence
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, and the
parish pastor, the Rev. Baret Yeretzian.
Clergy, deacons and choir members also will participate in the
consecration. Afterward, church members will attend a reception for
Karekin in Agajanian Hall.
This will be Karekin’s third visit to the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church of North America. His visit will last from Sunday to
Wednesday.
The church was consecrated Sept. 9 by Archbishop Derderian following two
days of services, blessings, meals and entertainment.
Church construction began in 2005 and was scheduled to be completed by
year’s end. The original construction budget was $2.2 million, but
Yeretzian said the final cost will be nearly $5 million.
The church has been in Pasadena since 1948, first on Michigan Avenue and
then at the Colorado location on the corner of Craig Avenue.
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