Chennai India: 300 year old Armenian church rots away due to neglect and calamities

January 12, 2017 By administrator

Rachel Chitra | TNN

304-year-old monument with burmese wood & antique bells awaits renovation

CHENNAI: The Armenian church, built in 1712, has weathered many a storm in the last 300 years, but cyclone Vardah managed to leave its mark on this landmark monument in Chennai.

With insufficient funds and lack of public interest, certain portions of the church such as its famous bell tower, housing 26-inch wide bells, overhead pews and wooden rafters- built with Burmese wood- need massive repair. These portions have been cordoned off for the general public as they are unsafe for use.

In the last few decades, services have become a rarity in the 304-year-old church with mass being served only on Christmas by a high priest, who comes down from the Armenian Apostolic Church in Kolkata.

“This is one of Chennai’s most beautiful and unique institutions. When the cyclone hit, we lost a lot of ancient trees. The woodwork has weakened and the plaster is falling off in places,” said Jude Johnson, caretaker of the Armenian church aka Church of Holy Virgin Mother Mary.

The church, which is opened for tourists, from 9 am to 2 pm every day, is nestled in the busy hub of Parrys. The Armenian Street- named after the church- has banks, corporate establishments, schools, shops, eateries, clothing retailers and a host of other establishments. Yet visitors to the church number few and far between.

“Once in a while, we get Armenian families, who have heard about the church. But weeks can go by without us seeing anyone. For them, the attraction is tracing their ancestors. The church’s flagstones are inlaid with the graves of about 350 Armenians. For the Armenians, death was as much a part of life and they did not believe in erecting separate graveyards. The stone epitaphs also bear testament to the lives of Armenian merchants, being embedded with grapes, quills, grain, ships, etc,” said Johnson.

Chennai, which has always been a melting pot of cultures, has a richness of culture and value systems unrivalled by other cities. The city has its own rich blend of mosques, rubbing shoulders with temples and churches. But while the city’s Roman Catholic, Protestant, Syrian Christian, Marthoma churches, and those other denominations see a steady stream of church attendants and visitors- for instance, the St Mary’s Church, St Thomas Basilica, Kurks and St George’s Cathedral – the Armenian church is solitary in its inclusiveness.

And its relative solitude was reflected during the cyclone, when trees got uprooted and the plaster got dented. With the state authorities taking little to no interest in this heritage monument, it has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the Armenian Church in Kolkata- which also suffers from the same lack of church attendance and interest- to maintain the premises.

The magnificent belfry, which houses six large bells weighing more than 150kg, today is out of bounds for the commoner. The wooden stairwell, which leads up to its narrow upper climbs has become too weak for regular use. Uniquely cast, the first bell was hand cast in 1754, while the last two bells were added nearly a century later in 1837. Shipped in from London, the bells still bear the inscriptions “Thomas Mears, founder, London.”

The church bells, each of which differs in size and were added decades and centuries apart, are rung only on Sundays by the caretaker at 9am.

For the rest of the week, the bells remain silent as does the church, which is a testament to the Armenians’ skills as merchants of silk, spices and gems. The motifs of the church are predominately Mediterranean, with the altar and pews made of Burmese wood in mint condition.

The wooden rafters and the upper pews, however, have not escaped the ravages of time. The creaky wooden stairwell and the upper beams in the main church structure have become so weak that visitors are not allowed and even cleaning is done occasionally. The church’s plaster is chipped in multiple places with the paint peeling off. “Given its solid structure and the fact that it has weathered centuries, a little restoration will go a long way to bringing it back to its former glory,” Johnson added.

Syria, Armenian Catholicos Aram I performs Divine Liturgy in Aleppo,

January 7, 2017 By administrator

Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia His Holiness Aram I performed the Christmas Divine Liturgy at St. Mary church in Aleppo.

His Holiness called for blessing on the city of Aleppo.

Glendale hospitals and local religious leaders celebrate Armenian Christmas

January 7, 2017 By administrator

This week, two Glendale hospitals collaborated with local religious leaders to again celebrate Armenian Christmas with two separate ceremonies.

Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital were able to honor the large area Armenian community at their respective Christmas ceremonies with the help of local Armenian churches.

Hospital employees, medical staff, hospital executives, city officials and the public attended the blessings this week ahead of Armenian Christmas, which falls on Jan. 6 every year.

Historic Assyrian church in Turkey given to Islamic school foundation

December 24, 2016 By administrator

Authentic Turkish Crime

Yet another example of intolerance has taken place in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa (Urfa)—the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the city is now being used as a municipality-owned cultural center and the foundation of the Islamic school of Harran University, The Armenian Weekly reports.

According to sources, the church was used actively until 1924, when Assyrians (Syriac Christians) left for Aleppo.

Locals call the church “the Regie Church”, because Tekel, the Turkish tobacco and alcoholic beverage company, had once used it as a tobacco factory. This tobacco factory had been known as the Regie Tobacco Company in Ottoman times, and was nationalized in 1925.

It was also used as a grape storehouse for decades. After its restoration in 1998, it hosted a carpet-making class. In 2002, it became the “Kemalettin Gazezoglu Cultural Center,” named after the governor of the city. Today, a part of it has been given to a foundation that runs the Islamic school at the city’s university.

Turkey has used the historic church for many different purposes—except for its intended purpose: a church.

Called Edessa in ancient times, Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The modern city was founded in 304 B.C by Seleucus I Nicator.

In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it successively became a Parthian, Armenian, and Roman state, and eventually an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) province. It was frequently conquered during periods when the Byzantine central government was weak, due to its location on the eastern frontier of the Empire. It fell to the Muslim conquest in 639 but was briefly retaken by Byzantium in 1031. It then fell to the Turkic Zengid dynasty in 1144, and was eventually absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.

Edessa was an important early center of Syriac Christianity. For Armenians, too, the city is significant since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there.

But the traces of Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Christians have been systematically erased from the city by Muslim governments and residents throughout centuries.

Thousands protest over Cairo church bombing

December 12, 2016 By administrator

Thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets in the capital Cairo, protesting against the government after a bombing attack on the city’s Coptic Cathedral killed many worshipers.

The protesters marched on the streets and hundreds of them gathered near the targeted Coptic Cathedral in the Abbasia district of Cairo on Sunday.

They demanded justice for the victims of the attack, which occurred during Sunday mass and killed at least 25 people, among them women and children.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail arrived at the site of the attack shortly after it took place. Angry protesters started hurling insults at him, accusing officials of negligence.

One protester said there had been no security at the gate of the Church, and that security staffers “were all having breakfast inside their van” when the bombing occurred.

Police moved in to contain the crowd as Ismail visited the site.

The protesters shouted “leave, leave, leave” as high-ranking security officials escorted Minister of Interior Major Magdy Ibrahim along a road. Police and armored vehicles were deployed to the scene.

“As long as Egyptian blood is cheap, down with any president,” and “The people demand the fall of the regime,” the protesters chanted.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has condemned the attack and promised justice. He has also declared three days of mourning.

“Vicious terrorism is being waged against the country’s Copts and Muslims. Egypt will emerge stronger and more united from this situation,” the Egyptian president said after the attack.

Exiled Muslim Brotherhood officials also condemned the bombing on the Coptic church. Church officials have said they would not allow the bombing to trigger sectarian turmoil.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 90 million.

The last major attack on a church in Egypt took place in Alexandria weeks before the start of a 2011 uprising and killed at least 21 people.

SPRINGFIELD: Armenian church bazaar in Indian Orchard to feature food, music

October 10, 2016 By administrator

armeian-food By Cori Urban | Special to The Republican

SPRINGFIELD –”Amazing” Armenian food including baked goods and fun with family and friends are the highlights of an upcoming Armenian Bazaar.

St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church will sponsor an Armenian Bazaar on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 135 Goodwin St., Indian Orchard.

Armenian dinners, baked goods, pickled vegetables, Armenian cookbooks, activities for children and Armenian music are part of the event.

Leo Vartanian, a church member, Board of Trustees member and choir director, helped to make nearly 90 quarts of tourshi, a pickled mixture of cauliflower, carrots, celery and green peppers with a brine of garlic and hot pepper flakes. “It’s got a little bit of zing,” he said.

Tourshi is popular at the bazaar; it makes a good hors d’oeuvre or can be eaten with stew.

Homemade Armenian food and pastries will include shish kebab and chicken kebab dinners. Take out will be available. Call ahead: 543-4763.

The food is “amazing,” said Claudia Muradian-Brubach, a Board of Trustees member
and parishioner. “The event is timed so that our parishioners and friends can stock up on Armenian baked goods and other items in time for the holiday season.”

“We live in a multi-cultural area,” Vartanian said. “People are exhibiting their culture, and we do the same. We like to perpetuate that culture.”

The families of many local Armenians came to the area following what has been called the Armenian Genocide. In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government activated a plan to expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. By the early 1920s, when the massacres and deportations ended, some 1.5 million of Turkey’s Armenians had been killed; others were forced to leave the country.

Those who came to the Springfield area banded together, Vartanian said. “They brought with them the recipes and culture they grew up with and passed on to their families. All this culture is good to perpetuate because it is part of our roots.”

Born in the United States, he is Armenian on both his mother’s and father’s side. “We are proud of our heritage and like to tell it to the public in different ways, and one is this bazaar,” he said.

Muradian-Brubach grew up in the church and spent each bazaar with her parents and siblings eating and visiting with their Armenian friends. Now she enjoys spending the day with her children there.

“I spend a lot of time working at the bazaar like many of our other church members, but it is very gratifying knowing we can hold such an enjoyable event for the Armenian community and the community around us and be able to raise funds to continue promoting programs at the church,” Muradian-Brubach said. “This event allows the community to experience our Armenian culture that has been preserved for decades by picnics and bazaars at our church.”

This is one of the church’s two annual fundraising events. The other event is the annual Father’s Day picnic in June.

Proceeds from the bazaar are used for programming, other events, maintenance of the church and other needs.

Admission and parking for the bazaar are free.

France At least one dead in French church hostage taking

July 26, 2016 By administrator

france-church-hostage Several people were taken hostage by two men with knives in a Catholic church in the Normandy region of France. A priest was killed and another hostage badly wounded. The assailants had since been “neutralized.”

Two men armed with knives took several people hostage during a church service in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France on Tuesday.

One of the hostages – named by the Catholic Church as an 84-year-old priest – was killed while another hostage was reported to be in a critical condition. It has been reported that nuns were also among those taken hostage.

The identities of the hostage-takers or what had motivated them was not immediately clear. Both were killed in the police operation which ended the assalt.

Five people had been held in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, which is near the city of Rouen in France’s northern Normandy region. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen named the slain priest as Father Jacques Hamel.

France 3, a regional news outlet, reported that the incident began between 9 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. local time (between 0700 and 0745 UTC).

French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve traveled to the scene. The country’s anti-terrorism prosecution unit has taken over the investigation.

Hollande told reporters he had met with survivors and first responders. He said the attack was carried out by two “terrorists” who had “claimed to be from Daesh,” using the Arabic name for the “Islamic State” group. He labeled the attack “cowardly.”

Pope Francis has expressed his “pain and horror” at the violence, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

“We are particularly struck because this horrible violence has taken place in a church, a sacred place where the love of God is announced, with the brutal killing of a priest,” Lombardi added.

France is on high alert and under a state of emergency following a series of deadly attacks on civilians including the Bastille Day attack which killed 84 people in the southern city of Nice.

One person has been detained in the investigation into the attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The prosecutor’s office spokeswoman gave no details on the identity or location.

se/rc (Reuters, dpa, AFP, AP, KNA)

France: The Armenian Church is dedicating a Mass and prayers in Nice in memory of the victims of July 14

July 19, 2016 By administrator

Armenian nice Members of the Armenian community came in large numbers Sunday, July 17 at 10:30 am at St Philippe Nice where the Primate of the Armenian Church of France and of Europe, Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan celebrated Holy Mass and the Office for the Dead in memory of victims of the bombing in Nice. He was accompanied by Father Krikor Khachatryan the parish priest and the deacons and cantors. Interrupting his stay in London, Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan wanted to go to the faithful of the Armenian Apostolic Church Nice to bring their compassion. The bishop said his great sorrow for the bereaved families and sent his sympathy and prayers to the injured.

At this Mass also attended the Church of Saint Mesrop priest Father Chnork Bagdassarian London and the great Chancellor and delegate of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem Philippe Piccapietra, came specially from Zurich, to share the pain of Nice and of Nice. Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan was very excited to chair this poignant ceremony, by the presence of an altar boy of 10 who had escaped this tragedy and who was there to serve Mass.

The faithful then went on the Promenade des Anglais to gather here and pray. “We came to honor the victims and show our solidarity, our compassion and share the pain of Nice and Nice. To pray is an act of faith but also of resistance, because it must have hope in life, “said the bishop.

Krikor Amirzayan

The Armenian Church of Akshehir (Turkey) in danger of collapse

July 7, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian Church and Akshehir and historical baths Kyavour in the region of Konya in Turkey are ruined by Akunq.net site and the Turkish media. The bathroom Kyavour highly degraded danger of collapsing at any time the church door traces of cracked walls and dangerous. The Armenian Church belongs to the municipality of Akshehir has not undergone renovation since many years. Built in the 19th century by the Armenian community of the city, the church Akshehir was used as a place of worship for meetings and cultural events by the Armenians of the city. The authorities who have since taken no action to renovate the premises in spite of various renovation of promise.

Krikor Amirzayan

Armenian Church Helps Restore Jesus’ Tomb in Jerusalem

June 8, 2016 By administrator

Clerics from the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches have recognized the need to repair Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem. (Photo: AP)

JERUSALEM (BBC) —A team of experts has begun restoring the ancient tomb in Jerusalem where Christians believe Jesus was buried, in the first such works for 200 years.

The renovation in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre aims to reinforce and conserve the structure.

Rivalry between the three denominations that run the church has delayed work.

But clerics from the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches have put aside their differences, recognizing the need to begin repairs.

The work will focus on the Edicule, the ancient chamber housing Jesus’s tomb which Christians say stands above the spot where Jesus’s body was anointed, wrapped in cloth and buried.

The last restoration work to take place there was in 1810 after a fire.

The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian authorities are responsible for running different parts of the church but share responsibility for the shrine.

Relations between them can be tense – in 2008, an argument between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks escalated into a brawl – but they have decided to act jointly after Israel’s antiquities authority last year said the church was unsafe and Israeli police briefly closed it.

“We equally decided the required renovation was necessary to be done, so we agreed upon it,” said Samuel Aghoyan, the top Armenian Church official there.

The scientific coordinator for the repairs, Antonia Moropoulou, said the tomb was stable but warped and needed attention after many years of exposure to water, humidity and candle smoke.

“The structure also needed to be protected from the risk of earthquake damage,” she said.

Work is expected to take between eight and 12 months and during that time pilgrims will be able to continue visiting the site, church officials said.

Each denomination is contributing funds for the $3.3m (£2.3m) project. In addition, King Abdullah of Jordan has made a personal donation.

Jordan controlled Jerusalem’s Old City, where the church is located, until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and continues to play a role in safeguarding Muslim and Christian holy sites there.