Armenian leader to bless site
By Diana Balazs
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 13, 2005 12:00 AM
The spiritual leader of the world’s 7 million Armenian Apostolic
Christians will visit Scottsdale on Thursday to bless construction
of a new sanctuary.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
all Armenians, will visit the Armenian Apostolic Church of Arizona,
8849 E. Cholla St. Ceremonies begin at 4 p.m. His visit is part of
a U.S. tour this month.
The Scottsdale church is the only one in Arizona and serves the entire
state. Arizona has about 2,200 families of Armenian descent with more
than half living in the Valley.
The Scottsdale church has a multipurpose cultural center where both
religious services and non-religious activities are held. The plan
is to build a 6,000-square-foot sanctuary to be used only for Divine
Liturgy, its worship service, said Scottsdale resident Jerry Avakian,
chairman of the parish council.”It’s beyond what I can describe. It’s
not something that happens every day. It’s something that doesn’t
happen at all in most communities. It is very fortunate that he
selected to come here,” Avakian, 60, a real estate investor, said of
Karekin II’s visit.
This is his second visit to Arizona. In May 2001, Karekin II visited
Scottsdale as part of a U.S. tour celebrating the church’s 1,700th
anniversary. Armenia, which is in Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey,
is home to 2.9 million people, according to the World Factbook. It
was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion
in A.D. 301.
Although Karekin II is blessing the sanctuary site, the actual building
groundbreaking won’t take place until early 2006, Avakian said. The
church still must obtain design approval from Scottsdale.
Church members are continuing with fund-raising efforts, said Donna
Sirounian, fund-raising chairwoman. The project is expected to cost
$1.5 million with about two-thirds of the money raised.
The Arizona Armenian community is a close-knit one with many traveling
far to attend the Scottsdale church.
Arsen Ovanessoff, 25, is a church sub-deacon who drives in from Tucson.
Ovanessoff and Sevag Hagopian, another church sub-deacon, operate a Web
site directory at that links Armenians statewide.
Ovanessoff said he is excited about Karekin II’s visit.
“There are more Armenians outside of Armenia than actually inside
Armenia throughout the world. It’s exciting that the Catholicos is
coming. We call him the Catholicos. For me, particularly, he’s very
involved with the youth,” Ovanessoff said.
Sirounian, who lives in Goodyear, doesn’t mind the long drive to
Scottsdale. She said she is doing it for her two children, ages 2 ½
and 5 months.
“I’m doing it for them so they have a church to grow up in. It’s
my heritage and faith. It’s very important for me to continue it,”
she said.
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