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Armenian Church Leader Pays Visit to California
Karekin II will appear at a ceremony at Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral in a sign of warming relations with Roman Catholics
By Claudia Zequeira, Times Staff Writer
Welcomed by faithful supporters, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, the highest ranking official in the Armenian
Apostolic Church, has begun a tour of California that will include
visits to schools and hospitals and a special service June 5 (Sunday)
at the Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
Karekin’s trip began June 2 (Thursday) with a procession at St. Mary
Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa, where he was received by
dozens of clergymen and enthusiastic parishioners. Several women
received blessings from Karekin as he entered the church. “This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Talar Zorayan, 34. It’s a good
way for us to stay Armenian.”
On June 4 (Saturday), Karekin is expected to bless the foundation
stones of a “Mother Cathedral,” a church in Burbank that eventually
will serve as the seat of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
of North America. The consecration of the $5-million project is
largely symbolic, with construction expected to begin a year from now,
church officials said.
Karekin, who was elected in 1999 and is based in the Armenian holy
city of Etchmiadzin, is making his second trip to California, home to
an Armenian and Armenian American population estimated at 500,000 to
700,000. A second Armenian Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I, is based
in Beirut and also commands loyalties in the Armenian diaspora, but
more U.S. Armenians are believed to be affiliated with Karekin’s
branch.
Karekin is planning to stop at Glendale High School on June 6 (Monday
evening) after regular class hours.
He also will visit Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Glendale
Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ara Tavitian said the visits are a token of
appreciation to California doctors and other healthcare providers who
have helped Armenians in California and in Armenia over the years.
[The pontiff will make this special visit to the Armenian community at
Glendale Adventist Medical Center to greet patients and consecrate the
hospital’s new patient care tower. He will present the hospital with
a Khachkar, which will permanently stay at the hospital. A Khachkar is
a stone slab with a cross carved into it. “The Catholicos wants to
visit Armenian patients to give them the word of God,” said Mayis
Shahbazyan, deacon of the Armenian Western Diocese].
On June 5 (Sunday), Karekin will appear at the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels, the seat of the three-county Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger Mahony is expected to attend the 3 p.m.
ceremony. “This is the first non-Catholic Eucharistic service in our
cathedral,” said Father Alexei Smith, an inter-religious officer with
the archdiocese. Smith said the Armenians’ use of the Catholic
cathedral made sense to accommodate a large crowd. But he added that
the gesture went beyond the practical. “I believe it’s not only the
size of our cathedral,” Smith said. “Most especially, it’s our level
of acceptance of each other.”
After leaving Los Angeles on June 10, Karekin is scheduled to travel
to Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco and Detroit.