The Blessing of the Canterbury Khachkar

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.