PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: info@ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
THE ARMENIANS IN LATAKIA (SYRIA) WELCOME
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
On Friday 16 October 2009, His Holiness Aram I left Antelias on a pastoral
visit to Syria, accompanied by the members of the brotherhood. Bishop Shahan
Sarkissian, Prelate of Aleppo and its Regions, Members of the Church bodies
and Community organizations, and the local inhabitants both Arabs and
Armenians gave his Holiness a warm welcome. As the procession approached St.
Mary’s Armenian Church, Catholicos Aram I and his entourage continued the
journey on foot.
In His welcoming speech, Bishop Shahan recalled the Pontiff’s first visit to
this region of the diocese thirteen years ago. Following formal welcoming
speeches, Catholicos Aram I thanked everyone for their warm reception and
spoke of the strong link between Church and people. He stated that the
vocation of the church is not to guard its buildings; rather it is to give
expression to its values through the people of God. With this conviction,
ended the Catholicos, the Church has sustained Armenian identity. After his
address, he received greetings individually from the people.
In the evening His Holiness Aram I attended a dinner given in his honor by
the community, during which he congratulated Mr. Boghos Nazarian for his
forty years of service to the Church, despite his positions in the Syrian
governmental structures. The Catholicos then decorated him and made him a
member of the order of the ‘Knights of Cilicia’.
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View the photos here:
tos/Photos404.htm
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the dioceses of
the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress