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ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH CANONIZES VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Ecumenical News
Feb 6 2015
Miko Morelos
Friday, February 06 2015
The Armenian Apostolic Church is set to canonize the victims of the
Armenian Genocide as the country prepares to mark the centenary of
the horrific incident which saw over a million people killed.
The church, which follows Eastern Orthodox traditions, will hold
a solemn liturgy at the Patriarchal See of the Catholicosate in
Echmiadzin on April 23, a church official said at a press conference
on February 3.
On the canonization, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan said the process took
nearly two years before church leaders decreed sainthood for the
victims in the genocide.
In a statement, the head of the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin explained
the implication of the canonization on the victims of the genocide,
which happened towards the end of World War I.
"The Armenian Church does not sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of
saints or of those people that is already common among people or has
been shown with evidence," said Catholicos Karekin in a statement to
the Roman Catholic news agency Fides.
"The Church recognizes only what happened, that is, the Genocide."
------ Follow us
http://fides.org/en/news/37221-EUROPE_ARMENIA_The_victims_of_the_Genocide_will_be _proclaimed_saints_by_the_Armenian_Apostolic_Churc h_on_April_23
------ Discussions on bestowing the honor on the genocide victims
began in September 2013 at a meeting in Echmiadzin. the mother church
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat,
Armenia.
The gathering was a milestone in the church, bringing together all
Armenian Apostolic bishops from the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin,
based in Armenia and headed by Catholicos Karekin II, and the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, based in Lebanon and
led by Catholicos Aram I.
During the liturgy, the church will read "Martyrs of April," a psalm
composed by the late Bishop Zareh Aznavourian, which will be used
for the canonization rite, according to Galstanyan.
The bishop added that invitations to heads of sister oriental churches
and other churches have been sent.
The genocide had been carried out by the Ottoman government, which
targeted minority Armenians who lived in their historic homeland at
a territory now part of present-day Turkey. At least 1.5 million
Armenians died in the systematic execution, also called as the
Armenian Holocaust.
Turkey denies the word genocide is an accurate term for the mass
killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915.
http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/armenian-apostolic-church-canonizes-victims-of-armenian-genocide-28232
Ecumenical News
Feb 6 2015
Miko Morelos
Friday, February 06 2015
The Armenian Apostolic Church is set to canonize the victims of the
Armenian Genocide as the country prepares to mark the centenary of
the horrific incident which saw over a million people killed.
The church, which follows Eastern Orthodox traditions, will hold
a solemn liturgy at the Patriarchal See of the Catholicosate in
Echmiadzin on April 23, a church official said at a press conference
on February 3.
On the canonization, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan said the process took
nearly two years before church leaders decreed sainthood for the
victims in the genocide.
In a statement, the head of the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin explained
the implication of the canonization on the victims of the genocide,
which happened towards the end of World War I.
"The Armenian Church does not sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of
saints or of those people that is already common among people or has
been shown with evidence," said Catholicos Karekin in a statement to
the Roman Catholic news agency Fides.
"The Church recognizes only what happened, that is, the Genocide."
------ Follow us
http://fides.org/en/news/37221-EUROPE_ARMENIA_The_victims_of_the_Genocide_will_be _proclaimed_saints_by_the_Armenian_Apostolic_Churc h_on_April_23
------ Discussions on bestowing the honor on the genocide victims
began in September 2013 at a meeting in Echmiadzin. the mother church
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat,
Armenia.
The gathering was a milestone in the church, bringing together all
Armenian Apostolic bishops from the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin,
based in Armenia and headed by Catholicos Karekin II, and the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, based in Lebanon and
led by Catholicos Aram I.
During the liturgy, the church will read "Martyrs of April," a psalm
composed by the late Bishop Zareh Aznavourian, which will be used
for the canonization rite, according to Galstanyan.
The bishop added that invitations to heads of sister oriental churches
and other churches have been sent.
The genocide had been carried out by the Ottoman government, which
targeted minority Armenians who lived in their historic homeland at
a territory now part of present-day Turkey. At least 1.5 million
Armenians died in the systematic execution, also called as the
Armenian Holocaust.
Turkey denies the word genocide is an accurate term for the mass
killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915.
http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/armenian-apostolic-church-canonizes-victims-of-armenian-genocide-28232