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PRINCE CHARLES TELLS ARMENIAN CHURCH OF HIS HEARTBREAK OVER ATTACKS ON MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIANS
The Tablet, UK
Nov 21 2014
21 November 2014 16:39 by James Roberts
The Prince of Wales this week followed up his impassioned plea for
religious freedom at the 4 November launch of an Aid to the Church
in the Need report on persecution, with a visit to St Yeghichè's
Armenian church in South Kensington, London.
April next year marks the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of
the genocide by the Ottoman Government against the Armenian population,
in which 1.5 million were killed.
Some of those who escaped fled to Syria, and the visit by the Prince
of Wales comes as the descendants of those who fled the genocide face
a new persecution at the hands of contemporary Islamists in Syria
and Iraq.
The prince was speaking on Wednesday to a 1,000-strong congregation
that included Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate of the Armenian
Church in the UK, Dr Armen Sarkissian, the Armenian ambassador,
the Armenian Archbishop of Iraq Avak Asadourian.
He said: "Whilst it is a joy for me to be in St Yeghichè this
morning it is the most soul-destroying tragedy that the Armenian
Church is facing such indescribable persecution in the Middle East,
in countries where Armenian Christians have long lived peacefully
with their neighbours.
"It is, literally, heartbreaking to learn of the attacks on Christians
and on the churches where they gather, such as the mindless, brutal
destruction of the Armenian church in Deir el Zour in late September."
The church in Deir el Zour, eastern Syria, was dedicated to the
Armenian genocide victims. All of its archives, dating back to 1841
and containing thousands of documents on the Armenian Holocaust,
were burned to ashes. The bones of hundreds of genocide victims were
carted from the church's crypt and thrown into the street.
"Your Grace," Prince Charles continued, addressing Bishop Vahan,
"I should like to thank you for standing before us today to tell
us about the continued sufferings of the Armenian Church in Iraq. I
should also like to say that I greatly admire the courage and faith
of your flock who are an example to us all of faith, quite literally,
under such grotesque and barbarous assault."
During the service, Archbishop Avak Asadourian, spoke of the problems
facing Armenian Christians in the region from his own experiences.
"Due to assaults Iraqi Christians are leaving the country of their
forefathers. In 1980 there were 1.5 million, this is now down to
400,000 due to the encroachment of Islamic State," he said.
The Armenian Mets Yeghern ("great crime") - the systematic eradication
of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1922,
is recognised as a genocide by the Vatican, the US, France, Germany,
Italy, Russia, Canada and many other Western countries, but not by
the United Kingdom.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of the UK and Ireland has raised
£15,000 to help the Armenians of Syria during the past year, and is
continuing its fundraising efforts.
St Yeghichè (formerly known as St Peter's) is a former Anglican church
which was closed in 1973 and taken over by the Armenian Orthodox
Church in 1998.
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1423/0/prince-of-wales-tells-london-armenian-church-the-grotesque-and-barbarous-assault-on-your-flock-in-iraq-is-heart-breaking
The Tablet, UK
Nov 21 2014
21 November 2014 16:39 by James Roberts
The Prince of Wales this week followed up his impassioned plea for
religious freedom at the 4 November launch of an Aid to the Church
in the Need report on persecution, with a visit to St Yeghichè's
Armenian church in South Kensington, London.
April next year marks the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of
the genocide by the Ottoman Government against the Armenian population,
in which 1.5 million were killed.
Some of those who escaped fled to Syria, and the visit by the Prince
of Wales comes as the descendants of those who fled the genocide face
a new persecution at the hands of contemporary Islamists in Syria
and Iraq.
The prince was speaking on Wednesday to a 1,000-strong congregation
that included Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate of the Armenian
Church in the UK, Dr Armen Sarkissian, the Armenian ambassador,
the Armenian Archbishop of Iraq Avak Asadourian.
He said: "Whilst it is a joy for me to be in St Yeghichè this
morning it is the most soul-destroying tragedy that the Armenian
Church is facing such indescribable persecution in the Middle East,
in countries where Armenian Christians have long lived peacefully
with their neighbours.
"It is, literally, heartbreaking to learn of the attacks on Christians
and on the churches where they gather, such as the mindless, brutal
destruction of the Armenian church in Deir el Zour in late September."
The church in Deir el Zour, eastern Syria, was dedicated to the
Armenian genocide victims. All of its archives, dating back to 1841
and containing thousands of documents on the Armenian Holocaust,
were burned to ashes. The bones of hundreds of genocide victims were
carted from the church's crypt and thrown into the street.
"Your Grace," Prince Charles continued, addressing Bishop Vahan,
"I should like to thank you for standing before us today to tell
us about the continued sufferings of the Armenian Church in Iraq. I
should also like to say that I greatly admire the courage and faith
of your flock who are an example to us all of faith, quite literally,
under such grotesque and barbarous assault."
During the service, Archbishop Avak Asadourian, spoke of the problems
facing Armenian Christians in the region from his own experiences.
"Due to assaults Iraqi Christians are leaving the country of their
forefathers. In 1980 there were 1.5 million, this is now down to
400,000 due to the encroachment of Islamic State," he said.
The Armenian Mets Yeghern ("great crime") - the systematic eradication
of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1922,
is recognised as a genocide by the Vatican, the US, France, Germany,
Italy, Russia, Canada and many other Western countries, but not by
the United Kingdom.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of the UK and Ireland has raised
£15,000 to help the Armenians of Syria during the past year, and is
continuing its fundraising efforts.
St Yeghichè (formerly known as St Peter's) is a former Anglican church
which was closed in 1973 and taken over by the Armenian Orthodox
Church in 1998.
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1423/0/prince-of-wales-tells-london-armenian-church-the-grotesque-and-barbarous-assault-on-your-flock-in-iraq-is-heart-breaking