PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE INDEPENDENCE OF ARMENIA AND ARAM I’S RENAMING CELEBRATED IN ANTELIAS
The Independence of Armenia was celebrated on May 29 in the
Catholicosate of Cilicia. Holy Mass, a requiem service and a special
ceremony were held on this occasion in Antelias.
V.Rev. Yeghishe Mangikian talked about the struggle of Armenian for
survival at Sartarabad and the soldiers who sacrificed their lives
for the ideals of faith and homeland during his sermon.
His Holiness presided over the requiem service, praying to God for
the souls of the heroes who fell in Sartarabad, Pash Abaran and
Gharakilise.
A public ceremony was held in the hall of the Veharan after the
service. The seminary’s choir and the public sang the Sartrabad anthem
and national songs.
V.Rev. Krikor Chiftjian then congratulated His Holiness for the 10th
anniversary of His enthronement.
“In 1968, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence
of our Homeland you vowed to serve the Armenian Church as a clergyman
in front of the holy altar of this cathedral and you were renamed
after Aram Manougian, who ensured the independence of Armenia. You
perfectly realized at the time that the whole history of our nation,
its past, present and future are everyday Sartarabads and struggles
for survival,” he said.
His Holiness highlighted the legacy of surviving and outliving
the winds of time coming from Sartarabad. His Holiness called upon
Armenians to follow the unrelenting will of the Sartarabad heroes and
take a stand in favor of their national and ecclesiastical principles.
“The heroes of Sartarabad shed their blood for the sake of faith and
their homeland, defending their country and its borders from foreign
invaders,” said His Holiness.
The attendants congratulated His Holiness on the occasion of his
renaming and received his blessings.
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
history and the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress