[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 118 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A TRIBUTE TO REVEREND VERTANES KALAYJIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2000

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to recognize the 
achievements and spiritual leadership of the Rev. Fr. Archpriest 
Vertanes Kalayjian, pastor of St. Mary's Armenian Church in Washington, 
DC. On October 1, the Washington-Baltimore Armenian community will be 
honoring this most outstanding religious and community leader among 
Armenian-Americans in the United States. On this date, parishioners and 
many others will recognize the 40th anniversary of Rev. Kalayjian's 
ordination into the priesthood.
  Those who gather from across the country and the world on October 1 
will also recognize the 25th anniversary of the service to St. Mary's 
of Rev. Kalayjian and Yeretzgin Anahid Kalayjian, his wife of 31 years.
  Mr. Speaker, as the cochairman of the Congressional Caucus on 
Armenian Issues, I am acutely aware of the many extraordinary 
contributions Father Kalayjian and Mrs. Kalayjian have made to the 
Armenian community in the United States. Over the years, his 
outstanding missionary and humanitarian efforts have also been of 
immeasurable help to the struggling families and youth of Armenia, as 
well as Armenian families spread throughout Eastern Europe and the 
world.
  In his important assignment as the head of the pastorate in 
Washington, DC, he has played a crucial role representing the diocese 
in the Congress, the State and Justice Departments and the Brookings 
Institute. Every year, Father Kalayjian briefs the Appeal of Conscience 
Conferences, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute, on the 
status of the Armenian communities in Eastern Europe and in the former 
Soviet Union republics.
  Father Kalayjian was born in Aleppo, Syria, and was ordained on 
February 7, 1960, at the St. James Seminary of Jerusalem Armenian 
Patriarchate. He came to the United States in December 1964 and was 
assigned to the St. George Parish in Waukegan, IL. In addition to his 
pastoral work, he did Christian Education; Biblical Studies and Public 
Administration at Lake Forest, Carthage College and Southeastern 
University.
  In subsequent years, he served the parishes of Holy Cross, Union 
City, NJ; and St. Mary's Church in Elberon, NJ (now St. Stephanos and 
in my congressional district.)
  In 1976, he assumed the pastorate here in Washington, where he serves 
the St. Mary's community, including nearby Baltimore city and the 
neighboring towns.
  During most of this career as a servant of God, Mrs. Kalayjian has 
been a partner, colleague and spiritual supporter to her husband's 
ministry. She has contributed invaluably to the growth and spiritual 
well-being of St. Mary's Parish. She has been surrogate mother, nurse, 
chaplain, Armenian Cultural Program director and advisor to successive 
camp directors and committees at the Armenian General Benevolent 
Union's Camp Nubar in the Catskills in New York. The AGBU promotes 
philanthropy, human rights land education throughout the world.
  Her services to the Armenian people have included numerous other 
missionary and humanitarian initiatives in Armenia, including 
missionary outreach in the aftermath of the earthquake. Her early 
training and work as a pediatric nurse and nursing supervisor only 
added to the invaluable contributions she has made to families in need 
here and in Armenia.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call these tireless and devoted 
humanitarians my friends. I wish them both a most deserved and joyous 
celebration on October 1.

                          ____________________