2000_03 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper March 2000

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Hye Sharzhoom
March 2000
Armenian Pilgrims Gather in Jerusalem to Celebrate Christmas
By Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Hye Sharzhoom Advisor
T!
I he Year 2000 was
ushered in with festivities throughout
the world, but the millennial celebration ofthe Birth of Christ was
celebrated with a unique series of
events centered in the Holy City of
Jerusalem. For Armenian Christians, these events took on an even
greater significance, as the leadership ofthe Armenian spiritual and
political worlds arrived in Jerusalem.
Armenian Christians in the
Holy Lands are under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem Armenians celebrate New Year's Eve
according to the old Julian calendar, so the equivalent of December
31/January 1 is celebrated on January 13/14. Likewise the Birth of
Christ is celebrated on January 6
according to the newer Gregorian
calendar, but on January 18 according to the older calendar.
My ten day visit to Jerusalem, January 10-January 20,
spanned the millennial activities
planned in the Holy Sites. In 1999,
His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom
Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of
Jerusalem had issued an invitation
to Armenian Christians throughout
the world to visit Jerusalem for the
millennial celebration of Christ's
birth. For the first time in history, a
Catholicos of All Armenians, in
this case His Holiness Karekin II,
would be visiting the Holy Lands
on Christmas. At the same time, the
President ofthe Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, was planning to arrive in Jerusalem on January 17 to participate in the celebrations and to become acquainted with
the Armenians of the Old City.
Along with the visit of these
leaders, the Patriarch of
Constantinople, His Beatitude
Archbishop Mesrob Moutafian was
also leading a group of pilgrims
from Turkey to the Holy Lands.
Christmas Eve was celebrated with singing in the courtyard of the St. James Monastery.
The seminary students, the many
clergy who had come from throughout the world, and the faithful gathered to sing "Glory to God in the
Highest," followed by joyous celebrations that lasted well after midnight. The crisp, cool night, was
punctuated with the sounds of fireworks.
The next morning, His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom
Manoogian, received pilgrims from
abroad in the second-floor reception room of the Patriarchate. He
greeted the faithful and distributed
the traditional oranges to the people.
On Monday, January 17,
there was a feeling of anticipation
in the air, as His Holiness Karekin
II, Catholicos of All Armenians,
was schedule to arrive at the Jaffa
Second from left: His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom
Manoogian; His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians; His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Moutafian.
photo by Yoav Loeff, Jerusalem
Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem.
He had been making his first pontifical visit to the Holy Land, arriving in Amman, Jordan several days
earlier. He was escorted from
Amman to Jerusalem by an convoy
of cars, led by the Patriarch of
Jerusalem.
By 4:00 PM in the afternoon, scouts from the local
Homenetmen and Hoyetchmen
clubs, with their colorful uniforms,
had begun the official reception
party. More than twenty bishops of
the Armenian Church were in
Jerusalem for the special events,
and they too were in the procession
Weekend Class on Armenian Church Provokes
Spirited Discussion ————^—
St. Paul Armenian Church
By Michael Arakelian
Staff Writer
On the weekend of
February 11 and
12, the Armenian
Studies Program offered a one-unit
course on the Armenian Church.
Fifteen students attended this class
with almost everybody realizing,
after a short quiz was given to start
the class, that they had more to
learn about the Armenian Church.
Students left the class much more
informed on the Armenian Church.
The class
was taught by Professor Barlow Der
Mugrdechian,
who is a Deacon
in the Armenian
Church and is very
knowledgeable on
the subject. He
treated the students to lectures,
slide-shows,
movies and a
guided tour of St.
Paul Armenian
Church. Discussions were also
held about various
controversial issues involving the
Armenian Church
and its future in
America and
abroad.
There were
many controversial issues that
were discussed. The issues were
whether the Church should focus
on being more nationalistic or religious, the issue of celibacy of the
clergy, the shortage of clergy, along
with the effects ofthe Genocide on
the Church, the split of the Church
and the issue of language in the
Armenian Church.
This article focuses on two
issues: the split in the Armenian
Church and language in the Armenian Church.
Armenians belong to many
different Christian denominations;
however, this class focused on the
original church in Armenia, the Ar-
menian Apostolic Orthodox
Church. Armenia adopted Christianity as its official religion in 301
AD. Prior to the Armenian Genocide, Protestant missionaries from
England and America were able to
convert some Armenians to other
denominations.
Today, unfortunately, there
exists a split in the Armenian Apostolic Chuicii. For example, the
church in the United States is now
under two jurisdictions; the Diocese which is affiliated with the
Holy See of Etchmiadzin and the
Prelacy affiliated with the Holy See
of Cilicia. This is one of many
current issues that affect the Armenian Church today.
The issue of the split in the
Armenian Church in the United
States has been a long-standing one
(about seventy years). Since the
election of a Catholicos Karekin I,
and even before when His Holiness
Vazken I was Catholicos in the
Holy See of Etchmiadzin, there has
been talk of unity. Unfortunately,
unity has not even come close to
occurring. Although attempts were
made, neither side did anything to
bridge the gap. Members of the
Armenian Church would like the
problem solved. A few of the students in the class recalled times
when they were growing up, citing
that talking to members of "the
other side" was just not done. In
fact, there was much hostility between the two sides. Now, people
from each side interact socially all'
to greet the Catholicos. Several
thousand people had gathered at
the Jaffa Gate to greet the
Catholicos.
When the official delegation arrived, the sound of trumpets,
bagpipes, and music rent the air,
with much shouting and noise. The
Catholicos was greeted by the two
Patriarchs, and escorted from the
Jaffa Gate to the St. James Monastery in a ceremonial procession
which attracted the attention of
many tourists. Upon entering the
monastery, he entered the St. James
Church, where he addressed the
crowded faithful. Following the
message,    the    traditional
achahampouyr took place.
It is hard to describe the
feelings which were expressed
and felt by the pilgrims from
Turkey, Holland, from Europe,
and the more than 400 Armenians from the United
States.who had arrived for a very
special occasion.
Armenian Christmas eve
and Christmas day activities centered on the city of Bethlehem
and the Church of the Grotto.
The official convoy, headed by
the Catholicos and the Patriarchs
arrived at 11:00 AM and a Divine Liturgy was celebrated by
His Holiness Karekin II at 4:00
PM in the afternoon. Following
the Liturgy, the people had a
chance to meet with His Holiness and the other clergy.
The highlight ofthe day was
the midnight Divine Liturgy celebrated in the grotto where Jesus
Christ was born. Attending the special   ceremony   were   Robert
Kocharian, President of the Republic of Armenia, and Yasser
Arafat^ead ofthe Palestinian Authority.
The making of new acquaintances and visiting the holiest sites
in Christianity, while at the same
time participating in religious services with the Catholicos and two
Patriarchs contributed to a special
ten days filled with unforgettable
moments.
of the time. Among the younger
generation, the split does not seem
to harm any friendships from being
made as they interact constantly
and get along fine. The older generation has experienced the same
feeling, patching up differences and
not worrying about political differences that stem from the split ofthe
Church. This interaction among the
people of the Diocese and of the
Prelacy seems to be a good start
and hopefully a catalyst for the
healing process to begin.
Another issue that was discussed in the class was the usage of
the Classical Armenian language
in the Armenian Church. In the
world, there are Armenian
Churches in Armenia, America,
Canada, India, Brazil, Russia and
France to name a few. The Armenian utilized in the church liturgy is
different than the every-day spoken language of modern Armenian.
Thus, even though Armenian is
spoken in the church, it is not the
type of Armenian language that is
understood by the majority of Armenians around the world. Typically, only scholars use Classical
Armenian and the numbers of
people who understand it are very
few. Sound confusing? This writer
is also confused.
Not many people understand
the spiritual message ofthe service
unless following along in a book
that has the translation in Modern
Armenian or the language of choice.
But, following along in a book takes
away from the symbolism of the
service.
There are a couple of solutions to this language barrier if one
is a parishioner. First, the person
can find a new church that utilizes
a language that is understandable
to him/her. Or second, the person
can do research into the symbolism
of the liturgy and memorize its
importance and relevance. The first
option seems to be a more popular
choice these days.
The class differed in opinion on this issue in the Armenian
Church in America. At least one
person believed that the Armenian
language must be preserved in the
Armenian Church. However, the
student also believed that the classical language should be replaced
with the modern day language that
is now spoken. Another student did
not care whether the language was
changed to English, although it
might help, but that the congregation should be more involved in the
service. For instance, the entire
congregation should participate in
the singing of the hymns by the
choir, so that the congregation becomes more active rather than passive. It has been brought up by
many people, mainly non-Armenian speakers that the liturgy should
be entirely in English, or for that
matter, the language of preference
in the respective countries. So far,
the leaders ofthe Armenian Church
have ignored this issue stating that
the church stay in accordance with
tradition and keep the classical language intact during the liturgy.
The split in the Armenian
Church continues to be a bane to
the faithful of each church. With
the approach of the celebration of
the 1700th anniversary of the
Christianization of Armenia looming near, a big celebration will occur in Armenia and also through-
See Church, Page 7