[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 26, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              HONORING HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II NERSISSIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 26, 2001

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor His Holiness 
Karekin II Nersissian, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All 
Armenians. Karekin II traveled to the United States last month and 
visited Armenian churches, schools and a retirement home in Fresno, 
California and surrounding communities.
  Karekin II was born in the village of Voskehat, in 1951, in the 
Etchmiadzin Region of Armenia. He entered the Theological Seminary of 
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in 1965 and graduated in 1971. In 
1970 he was ordained a Deacon, and in 1972 he was ordained a Celibate 
Priest. Karekin II then left for Germany to serve as a pastor, while 
continuing his theological education at the University of Bonn.
  In 1979, Karekin II returned to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, 
and thereafter, left for Russia to study at the Theological Academy of 
the Russian Orthodox. In 1980, he was appointed Assistant to the Vicar 
General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese. In 1983, he was appointed 
to Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese. Karekin II was 
ordained a Bishop in October of 1983 and was granted the title 
Archbishop in November of 1992. In 1998, Karekin II was appointed to 
the Vicar General of the Catholicos.
  On Wednesday, October 27, 1999, Karekin II was elected as the 132nd 
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. Since his ascension 
to the head of the Armenian Church, Karekin II has actively rejuvenated 
the Theological Seminary. He has been instrumental in the construction 
of new churches and the building of St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother 
Cathedral in Yervan, Armenia. Many new priests have been ordained and 
assigned to churches in Armenia and Diaspora under the leadership of 
Catholicos Karekin II.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring His Holiness 
Karekin II Nersissian for his spiritual leadership to all Armenians.

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