Author: Kanayan Tamar

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
August 3, 2004
___________________
CLERGY, PARISHIONERS GATHER TO HONOR LATE BISHOP
Funeral services were held for the late Bishop Houssig Bagdasian on
Monday, August 2, 2004, at the St. Mary Church of Livingston, NJ. The
church, where Bishop Bagdasian served as pastor for many years, was
filled with clergymen, family of the bishop, and parishioners.
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), presided over the service, during which
Bishop Vicken Aykazian celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The Primate read a message from His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in which he expressed his
condolences for the loss and prayed for the eternal rest of Bishop
Bagdasian, the first Armenian-born bishop of the Armenian Church.
Following the badarak, the mourners attended a hokejash, served by the
parish’s Women’s Guild chapter.
Bishop Bagdasian was buried in his hometown of Providence, RI, on
Tuesday, August 3, 2004.
What follows is the eulogy delivered by the Primate during the funeral
service.
* * *
Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it
dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:24
These words of our Lord are not only true in a literal sense, but also
when they are applied to all circumstances. Human life itself bears
testimony to this. It began with God breathing life into the nostrils
of the first man that He formed out of dust, and gave man the mystical
gift of regenerating the human race with the seed of his loins.
Similarly, behind every great and positive accomplishment in life there
is a grain of wheat, that sparkles in the human mind in the form of an
idea or a dream. If the grain is sown in fertile soil, in time it buds,
blossoms and bears much fruit.
Bishop Houssig’s example, from his childhood to his demise, reminds us
of our Lord’s parable on the grain of wheat. His entire life was
devoted to serving our church and our people. As a pastor, his flock
always held a special place in his heart. He left his mark by planting
the seeds of leadership in people who lead our church today, and in
others who will lead it in coming years.
Born on American soil in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, this
grain of wheat budded in the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of the same
city. He attended the parish schools and began serving in the church as
a choir member and altar boy. This tells us something about the wisdom
and importance of exposing our young boys and girls to our liturgy,
traditions and parish life from the very beginning. Some will hear the
calling from above, while others, who are not given that gift, will
spend their lives in the spiritual sphere of the church, practicing
their faith.
Bishop Houssig was one of those youth who received the calling from
above and hearkened to the Divine voice that led him to Jerusalem, the
center of the Christian faith. There for four years he tolerated the
rigors of seminary life, which were very different than the life he knew
in his parents’ home in Providence. Finally, the grain of wheat that
had budded in Providence and had been transferred to the fertile soil of
the St. James Monastery bloomed, as he was ordained a celibate priest
and accepted into the brotherhood of St. James.
Instead of returning to the United States after his ordination, Bishop
Houssig stayed in Jerusalem and held several responsible positions in
the monastery. As a member of the St. James Brotherhood, he was deeply
involved in guarding the rights of the Armenian Church at the Dominical
sites. This was a great service to our church, since our holdings in
the Holy Land and our custodianship over the central sites of
Christianity make our church and people visible in the international
world. Bishop Houssig was at various times responsible for the
properties of the Armenian Patriarchate. In 1960 he was appointed
Patriarchal Vicar of Israel, and was responsible for the Armenian
community in Israel as well as for the properties of the Armenian
Patriarchate on the Israeli side of the border. During his 11 years of
service in the Holy Land, Bishop Bagdasian helped renovate several
Armenian churches, including St. Nicholas in Jaffa, St. Elijah in Haifa,
and St. Krikor Loosavorich in Jerusalem. In accordance with the words
of the Prophet Isaiah, “[Blessed] is he that has a child in Sion and
household friends in Jerusalem [Isaiah 31:9]”, our entire Diocese and
Bishop Houssig’s family were blessed that an American-born Armenian
priest played such an important role in the Holy Land.
Returning to the United States in 1971, Bishop Houssig was assigned to
the St. Mary Church, then in Irvington, NJ. He led the church in its
move to Livingston in 1974. After the church was destroyed by fire in
1980, Bishop Bagdasian’s leadership was key in helping the parish
faithful pull together to rebuild the church, which was consecrated in
March 1982.
His service to the Diocese was not limited to the St. Mary parish. He
was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese, headed the Diocesan Finance
Committee, and served on several other committees. He had also been a
member of the Diocesan Council. For a short while he was the chancellor
of the Diocesan Center. And he was dedicated to the Armenian homeland,
leading a group of 26 ACYOA members to the region devastated by the 1988
earthquake to help with reconstruction.
In 1991 the General Assembly of the Brotherhood of St. James elected
Bishop Houssig as a member of the Executive Council of the Patriarchate.
He accepted, and returned to Jerusalem. At the request of the Patriarch
and the Brotherhood, he was consecrated a bishop in 1992 by the hand of
Catholicos Vasken I. Through his consecration he became the first
American-born bishop of the Armenian Church. For over five years, the
bishop was in charge of all the properties of the Patriarchate.
Bishop Houssig was a great leader, a dedicated pastor, and above all
else, a kind friend to so many. His dedication to the faith he was
called to serve was strong, as was his love for his flock. He will
surely be missed in Livingston, throughout the Diocese, and in the
worldwide Armenian Church family.
Tomorrow he will be buried in the bosom of the land where he was born.
I pray that his remains, which we consecrated earlier, will be a source
of blessing and inspiration to us all and particularly to the young
generation. May the Lord sow many grains of wheat in the fertile soil
of His church, and may those grains bud and blossom, so that we have
others who will follow Bishop Houssig’s footsteps.
— 8/3/04

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Aug 2 2004
Last-minute ante helps freshman
By Naush Boghossian
Staff Writer
GLENDALE — After years of studying, earning good grades and taking
advanced placement classes, Veronika Barsegyan got what she had been
hoping for: a big, fat letter of acceptance from UCLA.
It was followed, however, by another letter — this one explaining
that, because of funding shortages, she’d have to wait two years
before starting at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Disappointed, the 18-year-old Glendale resident enrolled in classes
at Glendale Community College.
But wait.
Barsegyan is now headed back to UCLA — the result of last week’s
state budget vote that directed $33 million back to University of
California and California State University campuses.
“I’d be more understanding if they said they couldn’t accept me
because my SAT scores weren’t high enough or my grades weren’t good
enough,” Barsegyan said. “But after you worked that hard, they tell
you you’re in, but you’re not in. And it’s hard to explain to
everyone who asks, ‘Where are you going to school?”‘
About 7,000 UC and Cal State applicants who had been redirected to
community colleges — with the understanding that they would be
guaranteed transfers to their chosen schools if they kept up their
grades — will again be offered positions at the schools.
Glendale Community College had 22 students who had indicated they
were interested in joining the guaranteed transfer program, and
Pasadena City College, 66.
“The reality is that these students had qualified by grade and by SAT
scores and … they had to redirect them despite having done
everything necessary to be admitted,” said Sen. Jack Scott,
D-Pasadena, chairman of the budget subcommittee on education that had
fought against the higher education cuts.
“We can’t deny dreams and the kind of values and upward mobility that
education gives people.”
Barsegyan — unlike the 80 percent of students who, when offered UC
redirecting, turned it down to attend other schools — chose not to
attend the private Loyola Marymount University at about $25,000 a
year because she didn’t want to go into debt.
She had already immersed herself in classes at Glendale College,
finishing summer school Thursday and planning to take classes in the
fall. Her goal was to finish up community college in one year.
“It was a dream of mine to go to UCLA, and I was kind of
disappointed. I was trying to hurry up and get there,” she said,
laughing. “It wasn’t like ‘Bummer, I’m going to GCC,’ but now I’m
really excited because it’s a completely different atmosphere there,
to experience the UCLA life.”
Barsegyan, who graduated from Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School
with a 3.9 grade point average and scored 1260 on her SATs, plans to
study political science and eventually apply to law school.
Her father, Apet, who had been closely monitoring the state budget
discussions, said he’s pleased that his daughter will attend the
university she was qualified to attend.
The family moved from Armenia to the United States 15 years ago, and
his children grew up knowing that education was the No. 1 priority.
“One of the goals for human beings is to lead a better life and
provide better living conditions for your children,” Apet Barsegyan
said. “In this case … even though the decision was made to cut the
financial budget to schools, people stood up to reverse it. That’s
what makes this a great country.”

MEMBERS OF THIS GOVERNMENT ARE REMNANTS OF BOLSHEVIKS, STATES PARUIR
HAIRIKIAN
YEREVAN, July 30 (Noyan Tapan). Steps undertaken against the Union for
National Self-Determination, i.e. the removal of the offices in
Vanadzor, Gyumri, Echmiadzin, and now the central office of the party
from buildings belonging to them, show that members of this government
are the remnants of Bolsheviks and don’t have connection with the
Armenian people, said Paruir Hairikian, the Chairman of the Union for
National Self-Determination, during the July 30 press conference.
Hairikian presented the collection of documents of 1988 about
releasing him from criminal responsibility, depriving him from
citizenship of the USSR and exile from the USSR’s borders. “Today is
the continuation of the past and the ground of the future,” stressed
the Chairman of the party.

Azeri pressure group members to stand trial on 9 August
MPA news agency
27 Jul 04

BAKU
Baku’s Nasimi district court chaired by [judge] Famil Nasibov held
preliminary hearings into the case of six members of the Karabakh
Liberation Movement [KLO] today (27 July). The six men were arrested
for staging protests against Armenian officers’ participation in a
NATO conference in Baku on 22 June.
The court heard out the parties’ positions and rejected two petitions
by the defence.
The first petition was to change the preventive punishment and the
second to call new witnesses and use new materials. In particular,
lawyer Elcin Qambarov asked the court to take into account video
footage featuring police violence against the protesters which was
filmed by the ANS TV company and to call the deputy chief of the
Yasamal district police department, Cingiz Mammadov, to testify. The
judge did not consider it necessary to call additional witnesses. The
trial is set for 9 August. Qambarov said he will keep trying to get
new witnesses to be called and new materials to be used.

ARMENIA’S FM MEETS WITH THAI MPs
YEREVAN, JULY 23. ARMINFO. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
met today with members of the Thailand-Armenian friendship group of
the Thai parliament.
The sides discussed the prospects and the ways of development of
Armenian-Thai parliamentary ties as well as the practical aspect of
Armenian-Thai cooperation. Oskanyan said that the visit will give a
new quality to Armenian-Thai friendly relations.

ArmenPress
July 23 2004
DELEGATION TO LEARN KARABAGH CONFLICT HISTORY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister Vartan Oskanian
received July 22 a joint delegation of the German Marshall Fund (GMF)
of the U.S and Project on Transitional Democracies (PTD). The
Armenian foreign affairs ministry said the delegation has arrived
here to examine the Nagorno Karabagh conflict history and its
consequences and to learn the positions of Armenia and Karabagh on
how it should be resolved through a series of meetings and
discussions.
The delegation’s visit is within the frameworks of GMF and PTD
Project on the Resolution of Europe’s Frozen Conflicts. One of its
goals is to inform leading experts and decision-makers in Washington
and NATO on the Karabagh conflict, encouraging interested governments
to show assistance for its resolution.
The delegation members were received the same day by Armenian
president and deputy defense minister. Today they are leaving for
Karabagh on a one-day visit to meet with its authorities. After
wrapping up the visit the delegation members will present their
findings to senior officials and lawmakers in Washington.

ARMENIA FOR COORDINATION OF ACTS WITH GEORGIA IN EUROPEAN INTEGRATION ISSUES
YEREVAN, JULY 22. ARMINFO. Armenia is for cooperation of acts with
Georgia in the issues of integration into Europe. Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists as a result of the visit of
his Georgian counterpart Salome Surabishvili to Yerevan.
He said that political relations between the two states are very good
and they can be even more improved in the course of rapprochement to
European structures. It would be better if we come out with the same
positions i.e. with a single vote, he said. However, Azerbaijan
prevents this, the minister said. There are regional tasks and the
main obstacle in their solution is Azerbaijan. But together with
Georgia we will try to coordinate our acts, and if Azerbaijan wants to
join us, we will do it, Oskanyan said. As regards the
Armenian-Georgian economic relations, Minister Oskanyan said that
these issues will be discussed during the forthcoming visit of
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan to Tbilisi.

GALA CONCERT INITIATES NEXT FESTIVAL
Azg/am
23 july 2004
The gala-concert of the Second Competition-Festival for Young
Musicians after Emin Khachatrian took place on July 21 at Aram
Khachaturian concert hall. The festival, organized by RA Ministry of
Culture and Youth Affairs, Ra Philharmonic Orchestra and Yerevan
Chamber Orchestra was not only directed to revealing the talented
young singers but also has the aim to support them in their education
process. The Competition-Festival began a month ago. There were 4age
groups that included 7-18 years old pianists, viola, violin, and cello
players. The 50 of these young musicians were awarded diplomas,
prizes and souvenirs. “The results of the competition held last year
were so promising that we decided to continue it,” said Vartan
Hakobian, organizer of the competition, chairman of the jury,
conductor of Yerevan Chamber Orchestra. He is sure that such festivals
are very important for the children, where they can display their
abilities and perform for the audience.
Garnik Gulumjian, Chairman of the Organizers’ Committee, stated with
joy that the festival showed once again that we have many talented
children. “Iâ=80=99d like to congratulate all the participants, as I
consider them all winners,” he said.
Anahit Ananian-Galstian, American Armenian philanthropist, greatly
contributed to the realization of the arrangement. The best
participants ofthe festival were given the chance to perform with
Yerevan Chamber Orchestra. Vartan Hakobian, encouraged with the
results of the competition, promised the participants to secure the
annual continuation of the festival.
By Tamar Minasian

Il Sole 24 Ore, Italia
July 20, 2004
Ankara chiede a Parigi un via libera per la Ue
Vittorio Da Rold
Il premier turco Erdogan vede Raffarin e Chirac – In gioco il si’ ai
negoziati
DAL NOSTRO INVIATO
PARIGI *c E’ una specie di e allo stesso tempo
una tappa cruciale quella che il premier turco, Recep Tayyp Erdogan,
in visita ufficiale a Parigi da ieri per tre giorni, tenta di portare
a compimento in terra di Francia per sostenere la causa di un
eventuale ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione europea.
Erdogan, un islamico moderato a capo di un governo monocolore che ha
raccolto buoni successi in campo economico rilanciando la crescita e
abbattendo l’inflazione, sara’ accompagnato da una numerosa
delegazione, tra cui una folta rappresentanza della Tusiad, la
Confindustria turca, per convincere Parigi, anche sul fronte dei
legami commerciali, ad ammorbidire la sua posizione ostile nei
confronti di Ankara.
Lo schieramento politico interno e’ abbastanza definito: la destra e’
contraria (la direzione dell’Ump, il partito di maggioranza ha votato
contro l’ingresso della Turchia durante la campagna per le europee)
mentre i socialisti sono favorevoli, in linea di principio
all’ingresso, ma pongono come condizione che Ankara faccia passi
avanti sul tema del rispetto dei diritti dell’uomo e sul
riconoscimento del genocidio armeno avvenuto durante la Prima guerra
mondiale (un tema pero’ che trova forti opposizioni proprio tra le
forze armate turche, guardiani discreti della laicita’ di Ankara).
Insomma, il quadro e’ abbastanza complicato al punto che Jean-Louis
Bourlanges, dell’Udf, il partito centrista, alleato con Chirac a
Parigi ma unito a Rutelli con i “Liberali per l’Europa” a Strasburgo,
non ha esitato ad affermare in un’intervista senza mezzi termini a
che . In altri
termini, non c’e’ spazio per Ankara, almeno per ora, in Europa pur
riconoscendo la possibilita’ di migliorare la natura di rapporti di
buon vicinato.
.
Comunque il governo francese, all’indomani dell’annuncio del
presidente della Repubblica, Jacques Chirac di indire un referendum
nel 2005 dagli esiti molto incerti sulla Costituzione europea, non
vuole correre altri rischi e non e’ favorevole all’eventuale ingresso
della Turchia nell’Unione. Roma, Berlino, Londra e Madrid, invece,
sostengono Ankara. Anche il presidente americano George W. Bush, nel
corso dell’ultimo summit della Nato svoltosi in Turchia, aveva
perorato la causa turca suscitando pero’ la reazione piccata di
Parigi che non si era lasciata scappare la ghiotta occasione per
l’ennesima polemica con l’iperpotenza americana: , aveva ribattuto Chirac a Bush che aveva
chiesto, senza successo, l’intervento della Nato in Irak. Ribaltando
la dottrina Monroe, Parigi aveva invitato gli Usa a pensare alle
politiche relative al proprio emisfero.
Da Parigi, dunque, passa la difficile strada di Erdogan per
Bruxelles, dal momento che la maggior parte della classe politica
francese e’ ostile all’idea di aprire un negoziato per l’ingresso
della Turchia nella Ue.
, ha precisato il premier Erdogan,
prima di partire per Parigi. Erdogan incontrera’ oltre a Chirac anche
il primo ministro francese, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, mentre ieri ha
partecipato a una cena con la comunita’ turca. .
VITTORIO DA ROLD

Armenian court adjourns hearings on opposition activist’s case
Arminfo
19 Jul 04
Yerevan, 19 July: The Court of Appeal has postponed until 21 July the
consideration of an appeal by the lawyer of Lavrentiy Kirakosyan who
has been convicted of illegal possession of narcotic and psychotropic
substances due to the defendant’s absence from the hearings, lawyer
Vardan Zurnachyan has told journalists.
“My client was not brought to the courtroom because of some
misunderstanding. As a result, the consideration of the appeal has
been postponed until Wednesday [21 July],” Zurnachyan said.
The lawyer added that Kirakosyan had to be hospitalized a short while
ago because his renal lithiasis disease got worse.
The lawyer insisted that Article 86 of the Armenian Criminal Code was
violated during the investigation. Under the article, police officers
cannot act as key witnesses for the prosecution.
[Passage omitted: reported details]