KAREKIN II, SUPREME PATRIARCH OF ARMENIAN ORTHODOX, VISITS CLEVELAND
David Briggs Religion Reporter

The Plain Dealer -Cleveland, OH
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Oc t 23 2007

The spiritual leader of some 7 million Armenians worldwide, in the
first pontifical visit to Northeast Ohio in nearly 50 years, said
he will never forget a little girl running up to him at the airport
Monday and saying, "God be your helper, your holiness."

"I will remember these words all my life because in these words I
saw the love, the happiness of this child toward me," His Holiness
Karekin II, supreme patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, told a
gathering of youths Monday at St. Gregory of Narek Armenian Apostolic
Church in Richmond Heights.

The love for the pontiff was mutual among Armenian Orthodox who packed
the church for the historic visit. Particularly from 7-year-old Talleen
Avitsian of Solon, the little girl who greeted Karekin II at Cuyahoga
County Airport.

"He seems very caring and he loves children and he’s very nice,"
Talleen said. Karekin II "made me feel very special and important."

The meeting with children and youths was part of the first pontifical
visit to the region since June 1960, when His Holiness Catholicos
Vazken I encouraged area Armenians to build what would become the
first Armenian church in Ohio in 1964. About 2,200 Armenians live in
Northeast Ohio.

The 56-year-old spiritual leader also led a welcoming service of
thanksgiving Monday evening. Karekin II, who was elected in 1999,
is scheduled to lead a home blessing and tree planting service at 11
a.m. today in the church hall.

"This is monumental," Deacon Artak Khachikyan, pastor of St. Gregory,
said of the pontiff’s visit. "For a lot of people, in this community,
this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Church member Robert Bagdasarian, 69, of Twinsburg, said "it’s
overwhelming" to have the world leader here.

"For most of us, it’s trite, but it’s goose pimple time," he said.

The pontiff visited St. Gregory of Narek as part of a 15-city tour
of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Northeast
Ohio is the 11th stop on a visit that began Oct. 3 in New York and
concludes Nov. 1 in Detroit. There are 68 parishes in the Eastern
Diocese, which stretches from Texas to New England.

The pontiff said, in a brief interview, he is visiting the United
States "to bring our blessing to our people, and to bring them an
exhortation to continue on their good Christian path."

What he has found so far is piety and "a spirit of vigilance, a spirit
to keep their faith, their church and their national identity."