PRELATE RETURNS FROM LEBANON
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, has returned from Lebanon, where he was participating in meetings at the Catholicosate, presided over by H.H. Catholicos Aram I.
The meetings between His Holiness, Prelates, Central Religious and Executive members, and Executive Council representatives of each Prelacy took place from March 13-17, 2012. The Prelates and Executive Council members from each Prelacy also had the opportunity to meet with His Holiness and Central Executive members to discuss issues pertaining to their specific regions and collaborative efforts in our homeland.
Joining the Prelate in the meetings were Central Executive member Mr. Khajag Dikijian and Mr. Vahe Yacoubian, and Executive Council members Mr. George Chorbajian and Mr. Toros Kejejian.
In his welcoming speech, His Holiness summarized in five points his long-term expectations from the church bodies: (1) Our church is the church of the people. Therefore, it can only fulfill itself by serving the people. (2) Because the Catholicosate of Cilicia’s essential vocation is to serve the people, the decision-making bodies must always seek to understand and respond to their changing needs and plan accordingly. (3) The renewal of the Church is conditioned by the collaboration between the clergy and laity. (4) Transparency and accountability are core values of our Holy See. (5) The Catholicosate is one body, formed through the close cooperation between the Centre in Antelias and the Dioceses.
After meeting in plenary and in committees, the participants proposed the following priorities for implementation at all levels of the church: Responding to the concerns of dioceses, Religious Education and Armenian Identity, The Youth, Monitoring the spiritual movements in the community, Translation of the Bible into Western Armenian, The Seminary, Married Priests, Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, Cooperation with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches, The Armenian Cause, Armenia-Diaspora Relations, Collaboration between the Catholicosate of All Armenians and the Catholicosate of Cilicia, New Cilicia Project in Karabagh, Protecting the Western Armenian Language, A Human Resource Registry, Registration of Lebanese Armenians in the Diaspora, Renaming and Harmonizing Diocesan Committees, 100th Anniversary of the Commemoration of Armenian Genocide, Balance the Budget of the Catholicosate.
The Next National Assembly will be held in May 2013, in Antelias.
His Holiness also appointed three committees to deal with the reorganization of the internal life and the work of the clergy at the Catholicosate, to harmonize prayers and rituals and propose guidelines for and to plan the next Assemblies of the Monastic and Married Priests.
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PRELATE TO PRESIDE OVER DIVINE LITURGY AT
ST. GARABED CHURCH IN HOLLYWOOD
On Sunday, March 25, 2012, the Prelate will preside over Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon at St. Garabed Church in Hollywood.
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CASPS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
The Committee for Armenian Students in Public Schools (CASPS), which serves under the auspices of the Prelate, has organized a leadership conference which will take place on Saturday, March 24th, at the Prelacy “Dikran and Zarouhie Der Ghazarian” Hall.
By the ordinance of the Prelate, Fr. Ghevont Kirazian will conduct the opening prayer and deliver the Prelate’s message.
High school seniors from Glendale public schools will participate in the seminar.
Members of the CASPS board will be in attendance, as well as Prelacy representative Dr. Hagop Der Megerdichian and Glendale Unified School District members.
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