During the second day of his visit to Canada, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I was honored with an official dinner on Friday, October 17, at the Avedis Aharonian Hall of the Armenian Center. His Holiness was accompanied by Archbishop Papken, Prelate of the Canadian Prelacy; Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy; representatives of community organizations, and clergy.
Very Rev. Fr. Karekin Shekherdemian, dean of St. Mary Church of Toronto, offered opening remarks. He was followed by Mrs. Zovig Terzian, chairperson of the Executive Council of the Canadian Prelacy, who remarked: “Thirty years is a long time. During those years we saw hurdles and challenges, but also joy and triumph. At each moment we also felt your paternal presence. Your words were advice for us, your prayer was empowerment, your dedication was example, with which we learned that it is possible to overcome any difficulty with faith and unity.”
Afterwards, Archbishop Papken highlighted the following in his heartfelt message: “The Armenian Prelacy of Canada has lived moments of joy for the past two days. To mark the 30th anniversary of our Catholicos is an indescribable joy and a true honor for us. With his vision of faith mission, His Holiness Aram I served and acted steadfastly. His service to the Church, the nation, and the homeland was the true example of an ecclesiastic in Armenian life. Your Holiness, your illuminating and inspirational mission of 30 years cannot be depicted in this brief period. We observe you and we learn and we take from you directions in our lif of life of service.”
At the end of the dinner, Catholicos Aram I offered his patriarchal blessing. He thanked for the dinner organized in his honor and, speaking about the value and role of the human being, said: “It is the human being who builds the world that has been entrusted to him, and at the same time, it is the human being who destroys it when he is unfaithful to the responsability that God has given to him. The human being is also who builds and destroys states, churches, communities, and structures. Today, in our current reality, we have the need for people who build, create, and serve, and also wise and visionary leadership in our national and ecclesiastical life. Look for a moment around you, there is a lack of people everywhere, people who have quality and vision, people who are committed to values and ideals beyond their own selves.” His Holiness continued: “There is a decadence of values around us. Professional and experiences young people have started going away from our life. Armenia needs to be restored, even to be saved. From now on, we have to stay above petty considerations, egotistic and one-sided interests. We have to stay far from approaches that strangle the potential and destroy the unity of our nation. We have always said and we will repeat it: consolidation and consensus on common and supreme values, around an all-national agenda. With arrests and indictments we cannot strengthen the homeland and the unity of the nation. We are called to choose the road that lead us to the salvation of the homeland and the empowerment of the nation,” His Holiness said. Afterwards, he brought the examples of Hagop Der Khachadourian in his service to the nation and the church from Lebanon to Canada and Armenia, as well as the role of benefactors, recalling the names of Kevork Tchatalbashian and Karnig Yakoubian, whose families were present, and whose donations have represented an important contribution to Holy Echmiadzin and Antelias, as well as in Syria, Lebanon, and Armenia.
