PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Karine Abalyan
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
December 9, 2009
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PRIMATE, VICAR TAKE PART IN ECUMENICAL GATHERING HOSTED BY ROMAN CATHOLIC
ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK
On Monday, November 30, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), and the Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun
Najarian, Diocesan Vicar, attended an ecumenical gathering marking the Feast
of St. Andrew.
Hosted by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New
York, at his residence in Manhattan, the event brought together leaders of
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches to share an
afternoon of prayer and fellowship.
The Feast of St. Andrew commemorates Andrew, the first Apostle called by
Jesus. According to tradition, St. Andrew traveled to Greece after Pentecost
to preach the gospel. He is the patron saint of Greece, where he is known as
St. Andrew the Protocletos, or the "first called."
Welcoming the guests, Archbishop Dolan spoke about the importance of
building on the warm relationship between the Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches, both in the United States and
abroad.
The November 30 luncheon followed similar ecumenical events held earlier
this fall. In September, Archbishop Barsamian hosted a gathering for
religious leaders at the Eastern Diocese in honor of Archbishop Dolan and
Metropolitan Jonah Pauffhausen, the Orthodox Church in America’s Archbishop
of Washington and New York, and Metropolitan of All America and Canada.
The following month, the Joint Commission of the Standing Conference of the
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and the Standing
Conference of the Oriental Orthodox Churches of America (SCOOCH) organized
the ninth annual Joint Orthodox Prayer Service for the United Nations
community.
Also in October, religious leaders gathered for an afternoon program at the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to welcome His All Holiness
Bartholomew, the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical
Patriarch, to New York.
During the November 30 luncheon, Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek
Orthodox Church in America, thanked participants for their warm reception of
the Ecumenical Patriarch, and said he was pleased at yet another opportunity
to spend time with brother clergymen from different traditions. Archbishop
Barsamian delivered the day’s benediction.