Los Angeles Daily News
June 5 2005
‘A new church will soon rise up’
Armenian cleric visits, blesses building site
By Lisa M. Sodders, Staff Writer
BURBANK — Nearly 1,000 people came Saturday to see the leader of the
Armenian Apostolic Church bless the foundation stones for a planned
$6 million cathedral in Burbank.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All
Armenians, anointed the dozen or so flat, rectangular stones with
holy oil in a solemn yet joyful two-hour ceremony filled with song
and prayer. He was assisted by Armenian priests and other church
officials from all over Southern California.
“Wherever our people settled, due to the difficult circumstances of
the times, alongside the building of our homes, we built the houses
of God, because we believe that our church is the birthplace of the
Armenian soul,” Karekin II said in Armenian.
“A new church will soon rise up to the heights of heaven and will be
a light between holy Etchmiadzin (the Holy See in Armenia) and all
of our churches dispersed around the world.”
Karekin II, who arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday, will spend
nearly three weeks traveling in California, Arizona and Nevada,
blessing churches, holding youth rallies and visiting hospitals and
schools. This is his second visit to the Western Diocese; the first
was in 2001.
He also will perform a service at 3 p.m. today at the Cathedral of
Our Lady of Angels. On Monday, Karekin II will meet with Cardinal
Roger Mahony, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles,
and visit the Glendale Adventist Hospital and Glendale High School.
Saturday’s ceremony featured a solemn procession of deacons and church
“godfathers” bearing shovels, along with a robed choir and gold-robed
priests, followed by the catholicos, all under a purple canopy. He wore
a diamond cross on his black veghar, a kind of hood or cowl, and smiled
happily at the crowd as the scent of incense wafted through the air.
“We’re so proud today,” said a beaming Edelina Chorbagian, 73, of
Glendale. “He’s so young! (Karekin II is 54.) But he’s gorgeous!”
Lorig Kalaydjian, 23, of Los Angeles said she got goose bumps just
seeing Karekin II and hearing him speak.
“The catholicos represents us as a people and our culture,” she said.
“The Armenian religion and our faith is part of our identity. And
having our figurehead here is a momentous occasion.”
State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, said it was a “great honor,”
to have the catholicos visit.
Armenia, a country of about 3 million that lies east of Turkey and
is slightly smaller in area than the state of Maryland, has been a
Christian country since 301 A.D. The catholicos is the head of the
Armenian Apostolic Church — related to the Oriental Orthodox Church,
but separate. Karekin II, church leader since 1999, is the 142nd
supreme patriarch and catholicos.