[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1541-E1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IN MEMORIAM: KAREKIN I, CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 14, 1999

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the 
world's great religious leaders, who recently passed away.
  On June 29th, Armenia's Catholicos, Karekin I, died at the age of 66. 
The Catholicos is essentially equivalent to the ``pope'' of the 
Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan 
declared three days of official mourning, from July 6th through the 
8th. Funeral services for the Catholicos were held on July 8th in the 
Cathedral of Echmiadzin. The principal celebrant of the four-hour 
funeral rite was Aram, I, Catholicos of Cilicia, the sister 
Catholicosate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Thousands of Armenians 
were joined by religious leaders from around the world, including the 
Armenian Church Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople (Istanbul). 
Also participating in the

[[Page E1542]]

funeral mass were the heads of a number of national Orthodox Churches, 
and Cardinal Edward Cassidy, who represented Pope John Paul II.
  Messages of condolence on the passing of Karekin I have been sent to 
the religious and national leaders of Armenia from around the world. 
President Clinton stated, ``His Holiness was widely respected for his 
deep scholarship, deep sense of principle and his sincere devotion to 
the broadcast possible ecumenical dialogue.'' President Kocharian noted 
that Karekin I had the fortunate distinction to be one of the few 
Supreme Patriarchs to serve as Catholicos of All Armenians in an 
independent Armenia.
  Last week, an Ecclesiastical Council, composed of the 49 bishops and 
archbishops, elected Archbishop Nerses Pozapalian as Locum Tenens to 
run the affairs of the Catholicosate until a new Catholicos is elected. 
Archbishop Pozapalian, who is 62 years old, was born in Turkey but 
educated in Armenia. Although the traditions of the church dictate that 
an election should take place after a six-month wait, a change in the 
rules has been proposed to permit an election before the year 2000 so 
that the Armenian Apostolic Church could fully participate in the 
Jerusalem commemorations of the second millennium of Christ's birth.
  Mr. Speaker, Karekin was born in Syria in 1932, baptized as Neshan 
Sarkissian. He was educated at Oxford in England, and held top church 
positions in New York, Lebanon and Iran. He was a unique individual in 
the way he combined a deep reverence for one of the world's oldest 
religious traditions with a very modern word view. He fluently spoke 
Armenian, English, French, and Arabic. He was equally at home in 
meetings with the leaders of other religions, and with leaders of 
foreign governments and international institutions like the World Bank.
  In 1991, Armenia--the first nation to embrace Christianity as its 
national religion achieved its independence from the officially atheist 
Soviet Union. Four years later, Karekin was elected as the 131st leader 
of the Armenian Church, after the death of Vazgen I, who had served for 
40 years. At that point, he took up residence in the Armenian town of 
Echmiadzin, the seat of the Armenian Church.
  Mr. Speaker, I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity 
to meet Karekin, both here in the United States, and also at 
Echmiadzin. He was a man of deep faith and spirituality. But he also 
addressed very worldly concerns, such as calling for a peaceful 
solution to the Nargorno Karabagh conflict and securing Armenia's place 
in a free and prosperous world. In what promised to be a major 
breakthrough in relations between different branches of Christianity, 
Pope John Paul II had been scheduled to visit Armenia. Unfortunately, 
the serious illness of the Catholicos, as well as the Pope's recent 
health concerns, caused that visit to be put off. As a Roman Catholic 
with deep concern for the Armenian people, I hope that a meeting 
between the leaders of these two great churches will eventually take 
place.
  Mr. Speaker, the Armenian Apostolic Church--which will celebrate its 
1,700th anniversary in the year 2001--is one of the so-called Ancient 
Churches of the East which split away from Byzantine Christianity 
before the Great Schism of 1054, which divided the Eastern and Western 
Churches. Christianity was brought to Armenia by the apostles Jude and 
Bartholomew. King Trdat III proclaimed Armenia a Christian country in 
AD 301, 36 years before Emperor Constantine I, the first Christian 
ruler of the Roman Empire, was baptized. During the many years that 
Armenia lived under often hostile foreign domination, the Armenian 
Apostolic Church was the focus of the national aspirations and identity 
for the Armenian people. To this day, the Armenian Church is a major 
focal point for all Armenians, those living in Armenia and Nagorno 
Karabagh, and the millions of others in the Armenian Diaspora, 
including more than one million Armenian-Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, on this occasion, I join with the Armenian people in 
mourning the passing of Karekin I, a great man who leaves a towering 
legacy.

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