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Whittier Daily News, CA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
Oct 9 2005
Armenian pope pays visit to Montebello
By Bridget Schinnerer, Correspondent
MONTEBELLO - Area Armenians and local officials attended a prayer
service conducted by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia, at the Armenian Martyrs Memorial Monument at
Bicknell Park.
The monument, which sits on a hill, was erected in 1968 and is
dedicated to the memory of Armenians who lost their lives at the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915 to 1921, a period
many call the Armenian genocide.
"This is a service that honors their memory and blesses their souls
so that they may rest in peace," Armenian National Committee
spokesman Raffi Hamparian said.
Montebello is one of the many cities the pontiff will visit during
his month-long tour of North America. This is his second visit to
California in seven years.
Several hundred people attended Saturday's event and eagerly
applauded when he spoke of the importance of the commemorative
monument.
"This memorial that stands at the heart of the state of California is
a reminder of the Armenian genocide that happened during World War
I," the pontiff said. "I consider this living monument a challenge of
all people that we must join our forces for the promotion of human
values."
Values, he said, that are not just Armenian values, but human ones.
The pontiff's visit occurs at a time when the United States
government is considering two pieces of legislation that urge the
current Turkish government to recognize the role of its predecessors
in the mass killings and acknowledges the United States' opposition
to recognizing it as a genocide.
The resolutions, supported by the House International Relations
Committee, await action by the House of Representatives.
Attendees at Saturday's service said the pontiff's message reinforced
their own beliefs.
"It is very important to recognize our genocide because if we don't
recognize this one, we cannot prevent the next one," Mourad
Iskadhian, 43, of Montebello said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
Oct 9 2005
Armenian pope pays visit to Montebello
By Bridget Schinnerer, Correspondent
MONTEBELLO - Area Armenians and local officials attended a prayer
service conducted by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia, at the Armenian Martyrs Memorial Monument at
Bicknell Park.
The monument, which sits on a hill, was erected in 1968 and is
dedicated to the memory of Armenians who lost their lives at the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915 to 1921, a period
many call the Armenian genocide.
"This is a service that honors their memory and blesses their souls
so that they may rest in peace," Armenian National Committee
spokesman Raffi Hamparian said.
Montebello is one of the many cities the pontiff will visit during
his month-long tour of North America. This is his second visit to
California in seven years.
Several hundred people attended Saturday's event and eagerly
applauded when he spoke of the importance of the commemorative
monument.
"This memorial that stands at the heart of the state of California is
a reminder of the Armenian genocide that happened during World War
I," the pontiff said. "I consider this living monument a challenge of
all people that we must join our forces for the promotion of human
values."
Values, he said, that are not just Armenian values, but human ones.
The pontiff's visit occurs at a time when the United States
government is considering two pieces of legislation that urge the
current Turkish government to recognize the role of its predecessors
in the mass killings and acknowledges the United States' opposition
to recognizing it as a genocide.
The resolutions, supported by the House International Relations
Committee, await action by the House of Representatives.
Attendees at Saturday's service said the pontiff's message reinforced
their own beliefs.
"It is very important to recognize our genocide because if we don't
recognize this one, we cannot prevent the next one," Mourad
Iskadhian, 43, of Montebello said.