[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 100 (Thursday, July 15, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PAYING TRIBUTE TO HIS HOLINESS CATHOLICOS KAREKIN I

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                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 1999

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to His 
Holiness Catholicos Karekin I who passed away Tuesday, June 29, 1999 
after a long battle with cancer. He died in his residence in the town 
of Echmiadzin.
  Born Nshan Sarkisian, in Syria on August 27, 1932, Karekin was 
admitted to the Theological Seminary of the Armenian Catholicate of 
Cilicia in 1946. He was ordained a deacon in 1949, and graduated with 
high honors in 1952. In the same year, he was ordained a celibate 
priest, receiving the name ``Karekin,'' and entered the religious order 
of the Catholicate of Cilicia. He was granted the ecclesiastical degree 
of ``vardapet'' in 1955 and joined the Theological Seminary in 
Antelias, Lebanon, first as a faculty member and later as dean. He took 
a brief hiatus from his duties as dean in 1957 to study theology at 
Oxford University in Great Britain, and returned to his position upon 
the completion of his thesis in 1960.
  In the following decade, Fr. Karekin served as a key aide to His 
Holiness Khoren I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, while 
attending several historic religious conferences and lecturing on 
theology and other subjects at several schools and universities across 
the globe. In recognition of his service to the Church, he was elevated 
to the position of senior archmandrite in 1963, consecrated as bishop 
in 1964, and made Archbishop in 1973. During this time Bishop Karekin 
served the Church in many capacities in the Middle East and North 
America.
  Archbishop Karekin was elected Catholicos of the Great House of 
Cilicia in 1977, serving in the capacity of ``Catholicos Coadjutor,'' 
along side His Holiness Khoren I until the latter's death in 1983. 
Subsequently, His Holiness Karekin II was fully installed as Catholicos 
of the Great House of Cilicia. In this capacity, Karekin II worked to 
improve and expand religious education in the Catholicate, as well as 
to expand its capacity to support research and publishing projects. In 
later years he acted as an Ambassador of the Church, making numerous 
visits to religious leaders all over the world. He also contributed to 
the leadership of the Middle East Council of Churches, and published 
extensively on a range of subjects.
  In his travels, Karekin II made frequent visits to Armenia, both 
before and after the fall of the USSR. He visited Holy Etchmiadzin to 
express solidarity with His Holiness Vazgen I, the late Catholicos of 
All Armenians, during a trip to render spiritual assistance to the 
victims of the 1988 Spitak earthquake. He was also named to serve on 
the Central Board of Directors of the Armenia Fund, Inc. Karekin II was 
elected the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians on April 
4, 1995.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to extend my sincerest condolences to His 
Holiness and the Armenian Church. In the spring of 1996 I had the honor 
of meeting His Holiness when I traveled to Armenia. I am deeply 
saddened by his passing; June 29, 1999 will be remembered as a day of 
mourning for all Armenians.

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