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AsiaNews, Italy
Dec 29 2014
Encyclical Letter for the centennial of the Armenian genocide
by Karekine II
Armenian Patriarch Karekin II announces the canonisation on 23 April
of all of Turkey's victims. The next day will become a memorial day
for the nation's "holy martyrs". According to unconfirmed reports,
Pope Francis will celebrate a Mass on 12 April in memory of the
terrible event. AsiaNews publishes below the patriarch's full message.
Etchmiadzin (AsiaNews) - Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Karekin II issued
a solemn encyclical letter to launch a year of official events to
remember the Armenian Genocide
The massacre of 1.5 million Armenians took place in the twilight years
of the Ottoman Empire, first under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, then under
the 'Young Turks' government, and finally under Kemal Ataturk, the
father of the modern Turkish Republic.
Armenians were targeted because they were Christian, educated and
middle-class. In 1915, their schools, churches, and organisations were
especially singled out and forced to shut down. That year, they were
hunted down, killed, raped, forced to endure all kinds of acts of
violence and humiliation. This was followed by deportations into the
desert, mass burials, and the torching of trains carrying fleeing
refugees. Some survivors managed to reach today's Armenia (at the time
under Russian imperial, then Soviet rule), Syria and Lebanon.
The Paris Conference of 1920 recognised the Armenian Genocide. Since
then, at least 20 countries have recognised it, except Turkey, which
continues to claim that the massacres were the consequence of the
fight against pro-independence groups.
In Turkey itself, writers and historians who have published books on
the genocide have been prosecuted. Only last year, then Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the massacre to the
descendants of Armenians.
In his letter, Patriarch Karekin II announces that he will lead a
liturgy on 23 April 23 2015 to proclaim saints all the victims of the
genocide, killed "for faith and for Homeland" and that he will make 24
April a Day of Remembrance for all the "holy martyrs of genocide".
According to unconfirmed reports, Pope Francis Pope will also
celebrate a Mass in St Peter's Square on 12 April 2015 in memory of
the Armenian genocide.
The full text of patriarch's encyclical letter follows below.
"The path of the righteous is as the dawning light that shines brighter
and brighter unto the perfect day."
Proverbs 4:18
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not be
silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland
and the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with
offerings of incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide
in unmarked graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their
faith and nation. Indeed, "the path of the righteous is as the dawning
light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced to
march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia -
from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having lost
their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while Eastern
Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival against
Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of the
Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people re-established statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare. This
is the history of our people for the last century - a history of
adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life of
freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favour." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You, O
Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light kindled
the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to our victories.
We created though others destroyed our creations. We continued to live
though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed that our people -
condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live and rise again,
so that we might raise this just cause before the conscience of
humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of the callous
indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn the
Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and kind
peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy, our
Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons and
daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken for
the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our native
land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us transform
the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength in our
spiritual and national life, and before God and all people, illuminate
the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward the
realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual centre, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially, for
everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy martyrs
of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth reign over
humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate, guide and spread
the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace and happiness to
all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you
and with us all. Amen.
*Armenian Orthodox patriarch
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Encyclical-Letter-for-the-centennial-of-the-Armenian-genocide-33069.html
Dec 29 2014
Encyclical Letter for the centennial of the Armenian genocide
by Karekine II
Armenian Patriarch Karekin II announces the canonisation on 23 April
of all of Turkey's victims. The next day will become a memorial day
for the nation's "holy martyrs". According to unconfirmed reports,
Pope Francis will celebrate a Mass on 12 April in memory of the
terrible event. AsiaNews publishes below the patriarch's full message.
Etchmiadzin (AsiaNews) - Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Karekin II issued
a solemn encyclical letter to launch a year of official events to
remember the Armenian Genocide
The massacre of 1.5 million Armenians took place in the twilight years
of the Ottoman Empire, first under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, then under
the 'Young Turks' government, and finally under Kemal Ataturk, the
father of the modern Turkish Republic.
Armenians were targeted because they were Christian, educated and
middle-class. In 1915, their schools, churches, and organisations were
especially singled out and forced to shut down. That year, they were
hunted down, killed, raped, forced to endure all kinds of acts of
violence and humiliation. This was followed by deportations into the
desert, mass burials, and the torching of trains carrying fleeing
refugees. Some survivors managed to reach today's Armenia (at the time
under Russian imperial, then Soviet rule), Syria and Lebanon.
The Paris Conference of 1920 recognised the Armenian Genocide. Since
then, at least 20 countries have recognised it, except Turkey, which
continues to claim that the massacres were the consequence of the
fight against pro-independence groups.
In Turkey itself, writers and historians who have published books on
the genocide have been prosecuted. Only last year, then Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the massacre to the
descendants of Armenians.
In his letter, Patriarch Karekin II announces that he will lead a
liturgy on 23 April 23 2015 to proclaim saints all the victims of the
genocide, killed "for faith and for Homeland" and that he will make 24
April a Day of Remembrance for all the "holy martyrs of genocide".
According to unconfirmed reports, Pope Francis Pope will also
celebrate a Mass in St Peter's Square on 12 April 2015 in memory of
the Armenian genocide.
The full text of patriarch's encyclical letter follows below.
"The path of the righteous is as the dawning light that shines brighter
and brighter unto the perfect day."
Proverbs 4:18
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not be
silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland
and the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with
offerings of incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide
in unmarked graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their
faith and nation. Indeed, "the path of the righteous is as the dawning
light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced to
march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia -
from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having lost
their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while Eastern
Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival against
Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of the
Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people re-established statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare. This
is the history of our people for the last century - a history of
adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life of
freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favour." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You, O
Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light kindled
the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to our victories.
We created though others destroyed our creations. We continued to live
though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed that our people -
condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live and rise again,
so that we might raise this just cause before the conscience of
humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of the callous
indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn the
Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and kind
peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy, our
Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons and
daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken for
the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our native
land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us transform
the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength in our
spiritual and national life, and before God and all people, illuminate
the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward the
realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual centre, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially, for
everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy martyrs
of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth reign over
humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate, guide and spread
the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace and happiness to
all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you
and with us all. Amen.
*Armenian Orthodox patriarch
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Encyclical-Letter-for-the-centennial-of-the-Armenian-genocide-33069.html