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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , WI
Oct 27 2007
Armenian patriarch seeks interfaith unity
Leader visits on spiritual journey
By TOM HEINEN
[email protected]
Posted: Oct. 26, 2007
Greeted by boys carrying symbolic gifts of bread, salt and flowers,
the spiritual leader of the Armenian Church and its 7 million members
worldwide stepped from a chartered jet in southeastern Wisconsin this
week bearing messages of love, tradition and the need for ecumenical
and interfaith unity in a troubled world.
His Holiness Karekin II is greeted by members of the clergy after his
arrival Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Buy a link hereHis Holiness Karekin II energized people from the
three Armenian parishes under his jurisdiction here - St. Mesrob in
Racine, St. John the Baptist in Greenfield and Holy Resurrection in
South Milwaukee - with calls for the observant and those who've
drifted to remember their faith and culture.
This month, he spoke in Washington, D.C., in support of a now-stalled
House resolution that would label as genocide the killings of,
according to some estimates, 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks
from 1915 to 1923.
Turkey, a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its
ambassador to Washington and warned of serious repercussions if the
largely symbolic resolution passes.
Karekin said that recognition and condemnation of this genocide are
needed to help prevent future genocides.
While here, he focused on the need for Christians, Muslims and others
to get along.
Armenia, where he is based, has something to offer in that regard, he
said.
It was the first nation to adopt Christianity as the official state
religion, in A.D. 301, before the Roman Empire did. And, despite
being surrounded or occupied by non-Christian nations and cultures -
including the Persian and Ottoman invasions and Soviet rule - the
Armenian people did not give up their Christianity, said Father
Yeprem Kelegian, St. Mesrob's pastor.
Karekin - who carries the title Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
(universal leader) of All Armenians - said Armenians had learned how
to work, pray and live in harmony in Islamic countries.
"This experience shows us that if we have the love of God, we can
understand that we are brothers, we are creations of God, although we
have different faiths, different cultures," Karekin said. "We are
sons and daughters of the one God, and also God gave us this world
that we cherish for him."
He is on a nearly 20-city, monthlong tour of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), including small communities and
large cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Boston
and Dallas. This was the first visit here of a supreme patriarch in
47 years.
At his request, Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba organized
a reception at St. Francis Seminary that drew local leaders of
various Christian denominations and the Jewish community. Tuesday, an
estimated 450 people attended an ecumenical service at St. Mesrob.
His one-day visit had an impact on many of the estimated 1,500
Armenian American households in southeastern Wisconsin, Kelegian
said.
"I think it's the biggest event in our life we will ever encounter,
even when we get older, probably bigger than my wedding," Monica
Heller, 27, of Racine, who is not engaged, said at the airport.
After meeting with Karekin and about 24 leaders from area parishes,
Heller added, "I feel now that, after seeing him, it does increase my
spirituality and also my sense of Armenian heritage, and it makes me
want to do more, especially for the people of Armenia."
Danny Mantis, 21, a St. Mesrob member from Waukegan, Ill., added,
"It's huge. It's a big deal. It's like the pope coming for
Catholics."
http://www.jsonline.com/stor y/index.aspx?id=679411
Oct 27 2007
Armenian patriarch seeks interfaith unity
Leader visits on spiritual journey
By TOM HEINEN
[email protected]
Posted: Oct. 26, 2007
Greeted by boys carrying symbolic gifts of bread, salt and flowers,
the spiritual leader of the Armenian Church and its 7 million members
worldwide stepped from a chartered jet in southeastern Wisconsin this
week bearing messages of love, tradition and the need for ecumenical
and interfaith unity in a troubled world.
His Holiness Karekin II is greeted by members of the clergy after his
arrival Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Buy a link hereHis Holiness Karekin II energized people from the
three Armenian parishes under his jurisdiction here - St. Mesrob in
Racine, St. John the Baptist in Greenfield and Holy Resurrection in
South Milwaukee - with calls for the observant and those who've
drifted to remember their faith and culture.
This month, he spoke in Washington, D.C., in support of a now-stalled
House resolution that would label as genocide the killings of,
according to some estimates, 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks
from 1915 to 1923.
Turkey, a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its
ambassador to Washington and warned of serious repercussions if the
largely symbolic resolution passes.
Karekin said that recognition and condemnation of this genocide are
needed to help prevent future genocides.
While here, he focused on the need for Christians, Muslims and others
to get along.
Armenia, where he is based, has something to offer in that regard, he
said.
It was the first nation to adopt Christianity as the official state
religion, in A.D. 301, before the Roman Empire did. And, despite
being surrounded or occupied by non-Christian nations and cultures -
including the Persian and Ottoman invasions and Soviet rule - the
Armenian people did not give up their Christianity, said Father
Yeprem Kelegian, St. Mesrob's pastor.
Karekin - who carries the title Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
(universal leader) of All Armenians - said Armenians had learned how
to work, pray and live in harmony in Islamic countries.
"This experience shows us that if we have the love of God, we can
understand that we are brothers, we are creations of God, although we
have different faiths, different cultures," Karekin said. "We are
sons and daughters of the one God, and also God gave us this world
that we cherish for him."
He is on a nearly 20-city, monthlong tour of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), including small communities and
large cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Boston
and Dallas. This was the first visit here of a supreme patriarch in
47 years.
At his request, Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba organized
a reception at St. Francis Seminary that drew local leaders of
various Christian denominations and the Jewish community. Tuesday, an
estimated 450 people attended an ecumenical service at St. Mesrob.
His one-day visit had an impact on many of the estimated 1,500
Armenian American households in southeastern Wisconsin, Kelegian
said.
"I think it's the biggest event in our life we will ever encounter,
even when we get older, probably bigger than my wedding," Monica
Heller, 27, of Racine, who is not engaged, said at the airport.
After meeting with Karekin and about 24 leaders from area parishes,
Heller added, "I feel now that, after seeing him, it does increase my
spirituality and also my sense of Armenian heritage, and it makes me
want to do more, especially for the people of Armenia."
Danny Mantis, 21, a St. Mesrob member from Waukegan, Ill., added,
"It's huge. It's a big deal. It's like the pope coming for
Catholics."
http://www.jsonline.com/stor y/index.aspx?id=679411