PRESS RELEASE Programme of Armenian Studies LONDON Contact: Dr Krikor Moskofian E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.progarmstud.org.uk A century after the violence of the Armenian Genocide, a message of peace and survival is laid in the Memorial Garden of Canterbury Cathedral by Susannah Moody (London) A hand-carved Armenian stone has been placed in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral in a moving gesture of commemoration and collaboration between the Armenian and Anglican Churches. The cross-stone, known as a khachkar, has been an icon of the Armenian Christian tradition for over a thousand years. The Canterbury Khachkar is believed to be the first to be carved in England and is the result of an extraordinary project by Vartan Moskofian and Brigadier John Meardon, members of Canterbury's stone sculpture group Pure Form. In what Meardon described as 'a very Armenian idea', the pair designed the two-metre tall khachkar, sourced a block of reddish tuff from an Armenian quarry, transported the block back to Canterbury and carved it using traditional tools for the Cathedral. On Saturday 2 March the khachkar was washed with water, wine and chrism and consecrated in the Memorial Garden by the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of the UK and Ireland, Bishop Hovakim Manukyan. Moskofian and Meardon have dedicated the khachkar to the Cathedral in recognition of the humanitarian efforts of Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. From the outset of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, which claimed the lives of over 1.5 million Armenians and displaced an entire generation, Davidson spoke out against the atrocities. He raised awareness of the massacres and deportations and brought them to the attention of the British people, as a public voice against the horrors. In memory of his support, flowers were laid on Davidson's grave in the Cathedral cloisters and the current Archbishop Justin Welby gave a blessing. The Canterbury Khachkar is carved with a large cross, flanked by two peacocks, symbols of pride and eternal life. Beneath the cross are the steps to heaven and a line of Armenian script written by the poet Taniel Varouzhan which reads "and I go towards the source of the light." Taniel Varouzhan was tortured and killed in 1915 at the age of 31.