Minneapolis Star Tribune , MN
Oct 20 2007
Armenian church is rebuilding, reaching out
Leader touring the U.S. will visit an Armenian church in St. Paul and
the University of St. Thomas.
By ANNE MARIE IDDINS Special to the Star Tribune
Last update: October 19, 2007 – 5:43 PM
ETCHMAIDZIN, Armenia – During 70 years of Soviet domination, Armenian
parents and grandparents baptized their children in secret, fearing
reprisals.
The Soviets left Armenia in 1991, and today in the holy city of
Etchmiadzin, baptism parties grace the flowered grounds of the Mother
See, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Vatican. On a late summer
Sunday, young girls in puffy pastel dresses waited outside the
18th-century baptistery, where more than 100 people are received into
the church daily.
Soon baptisms will take place in a new building, one of three going
up near the Mother Cathedral, parts of which date to the fourth
century. The new chapel will have a marble pool where adults can be
baptized by full immersion.
The construction is an example of how the Armenian Church is
revitalizing itself after centuries of political strife, genocide at
the hands of the Turks in 1915, a massive earthquake in 1988 — and
decades of Communist repression.
"During the Communist years, it wasn’t forbidden to enter the
seminary, but if you did, the next day you would be shipped to
Siberia," the Very Rev. Zaven Yazichyan said. "At the time we had one
Catholicos and 10 clergy for all Armenians. Now we have 20 to 25
graduating the seminary each year."
Just as the church is rebuilding its physical base, it also is
reaching out to help Armenians around the world find their heritage.
On Sept. 30, Karekin II, the Catholicos of all Armenians, began a
monthlong visit to the United States. The Catholicos, the temporal
leader of the Armenian church, will make 18 stops in 12 states,
including next Thursday and Friday in the Twin Cities, where he’ll
visit St. Sahag Armenian Church in St. Paul and the University of St.
Thomas.
He will participate in a service at St. Sahag at 7 p.m. Thursday,
which will be followed by a public reception at 8 p.m. Karekin II
also will give an address and receive an honorary degree at 10:30
a.m. Friday at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in the
Schulze Grand Atrium on the university’s downtown Minneapolis campus.
(For more information about the events, call 651-603-1940 or go to
)
The church’s outreach is important because most Armenians live
outside the country, including about 1,150 Armenians or people of
Armenian descent in Minnesota. They are part of a diaspora that has
gone on for centuries.
Minnesota Armenians opened St. Sahag’s in 2001, a symbol of the
church’s renewed role in the lives of Armenian-Americans.
"We have a small congregation, but lots of talent," said Sam
Charchian, chairman of the parish council. "We’re continuously
growing."
Elyssa Karanian, 22, an Armenian-American who has studied the role of
the church, believes that the church plays a larger cultural role in
diasporan communities than in Armenia itself.
"I think the years of Soviet rule did quite a bit to diminish the
church’s role in Armenia," said Karanian, who lives and works in the
capital city of Yerevan.
Added Sister Katarina Schuth, Endowed Chair for the Social Scientific
Study of Religion at the St. Paul Seminary: "In Armenia’s case, I
think [religion] is critical to help keep people together and bring
them closer."
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