PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information
Department Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003Fax: (04) 419724E- mail: [email protected]:
PO Box 70 317Antelias-Lebanon
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I ANNOUNCES 2005 THE YEAR OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Antelias, Lebanon – On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, an encyclical by His Holiness Aram I was read during the holy mass
held on Sunday the 6th of February in the St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral. In the encyclical, read by Bishop Nareg Alemezian, the Catholicos
of Cilicia announced 2005 to be the year of the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.
Aram I points out in the encyclical that the Catholicosate of Cilicia has
itself witnessed and lived the massacres its people, the Armenians, were
subjected to. For 90 years, the Catholicosate “helped provide the physical
and psychological needs of the Armenians forced away from their land, played
a crucial role in the formation of the Armenian communities worldwide, built
churches and schools, spread spiritual, moral and cultural values, and
became a stanch defender of its people’s rights,” he says in the encyclical
.
His Holiness Aram I adds that with renewed faith and firmness the
Catholicosate today demands justice for the Armenians from the world.
The Pontiff also calls on the Armenian people to embrace the message of the
90th anniversary with a united spirit, to commemorate the anniversary
appropriately, based on the circumstances and situation of each community,
to regard it as a reason for strengthening the struggle for justice and,
finally, to organize pilgrimages to Der Zor, the constant reminder of the
Armenians’ struggle for survival.
On the same day, the encyclical was also read in all the Dioceses of the
Catholicosate of Cilicia.
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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 history and
the mission 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