Most recent news | Released Tuesday, August 4, 2009
HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN I (1932-1999)
In Armenia this fall, memorial events will honor the 10th anniversary of his passing
Ten years have elapsed since the untimely death of His Holiness Karekin I Sarkissian, of blessed memory, the 131st Catholicos of All Armenians. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is organizing a special memorial in the Republic of Armenia this autumn.
Presiding over the memorial events will be His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, the 132nd successor to the Throne of St. Gregory the Illuminator.
The 10-year memorial will begin on Saturday, September 19, 2009, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin—the pre-eminent shrine of the worldwide Armenian Church. A ground-breaking ceremony will take place at 12:00 noon, to inaugurate the construction of “His Holiness Karekin I Religious Missionary Educational Center.”
When completed, His Holiness Karekin I Center will be primarily directed at the ordained clergy, providing advanced training to reinforce and build upon their theological knowledge and spiritual leadership skills. The center will also be open to Christian education teachers, who would be eligible for seminars and workshops on theological, spiritual, pastoral, and church-related matters.
His Holiness Karekin I Religious Missionary Educational Center is being built thanks to the generous support of Haig and Elza Didizian, lifelong friends of the late Catholicos, who have devoted their efforts to perpetuating Karekin I’s intellectual and spiritual legacy. Among the fruits of this generous effort is the multi-volume Karekin I Theological and Armenological Studies Series (see below).
On the evening of September 19, at 7:00 p.m., the curtain will rise on a Concert of Remembrance at Yerevan’s grand Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall. Called “A Night to Remember Karekin I,” the concert will feature both an orchestra and full choir.
Catholicos Karekin II will graciously preside over the concert, and address the audience on the occasion.
The memorial events will continue on Sunday, September 20, at 11:00 a.m., at the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin with a special celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and a requiem service (hokehankisd) for the departed Catholicos, on the 10th anniversary of his passing.
Catholicos Karekin II will preside over these services, where dignitaries from around the world will be in attendance.
A theologian of great learning
His Holiness Karekin I (1932-1999)—a key figure in the worldwide ecumenical movement, an intellectual of international stature and reputation, and a fiercely dedicated leader of the Armenian Church and nation—was born in Kessab, Syria, with the baptismal name Neshan Sarkissian. He studied in Lebanon and then at Oxford, and was an official observer to the Second Vatican Council. After serving as a bishop in Iran, New York, and Lebanon, he was consecrated as Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, in Antelias, Lebanon (1977-1995).
In 1995 he was elected the 131st Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. As leader of the entire Armenian Church—and the first catholicos to be elected in the free Republic of Armenia—Karekin I resided at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin until his untimely death in 1999. A theologian of enormous breadth, his numerous books and essays have appeared in Armenian, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
Catholicos Karekin I above all considered himself a pastor—an aspect of his ministry evident in a long interview published in English as Between Heaven and Earth: A Conversation with His Holiness Karekin I (New York: St. Vartan Press, 2000). Speaking with journalist and religion scholar Giovanni Guaïta, the late Catholicos addressed some of the most pressing issues of the day: happiness, faith and beauty; authority and power; the laity, young people, women in the church; love, the family and sexuality; justice, ecology and bioethics. The book remains the best introduction to Karekin I’s spirituality and thought.
His writings are being systematically issued as the Karekin I Theological and Armenological Studies Series. Eight volumes in the series have already been published, and seven more are forthcoming. They are available at Armenian Church centers on the east and west coasts of the United States, and through Armenian institutions around the world.
His Holiness Karekin I Sarkissian, the late 131st Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, will be memorialized on the 10th anniversary of his passing, through a schedule of special events in Armenia. The memorial on September 19-20 will include a concert and requiem service, as well as the official groundbreaking for the new “His Holiness Karekin I Religious Missionary Educational Center,” which will be built at Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness Karekin II, the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, will preside over the ceremonies.