RELIGIOUS LEADERS UNITE, CONDEMN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press, MI
Nov 1 2007
In a show of Christian unity, the top Armenian religious leader met
with the Michigan heads of several denominations Wednesday to denounce
genocide and call for bridging sectarian and religious divides.
"We are very pleased to see a brotherhood that lives among the
Christian denominations, as well as among the representatives of
different faiths," His Holiness Karekin II, pontiff of the Armenian
Orthodox Church, said through his translator after a luncheon in his
honor at St. John Armenian Church in Southfield.
Karekin’s three-day visit to Michigan — his first since 2005 — is
the last leg of a monthlong tour of the United States that comes at
a time of great debate over a congressional resolution that labeled
as genocide the killings of Armenians in the early 20th Century.
"When our trip was planned more than a year ago, it never would have
crossed our minds that we would be in Congress on the very day it
was being deliberated," Karekin said.
Turkey is blamed for more than 1 million Armenian deaths during World
War I, though the Turkish government flatly denies it.
The genocide vote set off a fierce reaction from Turkey’s government
and was opposed by the Bush administration. The resolution appears
to have stalled for now, but Karekin said it will pass one day.
"Sooner or later, those crimes will be condemned," Karekin said.
"People will be held accountable. Even if they’re not legally held
accountable, they’re morally going to be held accountable. … Moral
values should never be held hostage to political interests."
During the luncheon, Detroit Catholic Cardinal Adam Maida and local
heads of the Greek and Romanian Orthodox churches also condemned
the genocide.
Karekin said recognizing the Armenian genocide is important — not
just for Armenians, but for all who suffer because of their background
or religion.
"The world suffers today with the trampling of human rights," Karekin
said. "It is vital that genocide be condemned."