Armenian Religious Leaders Issue Statement on April 24

By: Admin
Below is an appeal from the religious leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Catholic Church, and the Armenian Evangelical Union of Eastern United States of America.

This year, for the first time since 1915, April 24th, the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, falls on Easter Sunday.

On this sacred day, for the first time since the Armenian Genocide, we will join together as Christians to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ after His death on the cross, and also, as heirs of an ancient people that arose nearly a century ago from the ashes of genocide, to mark our own rebirth.

We will recall with thanksgiving to the Almighty, our resurrection as a people from the fires of hatred that nearly consumed us in 1915. As a people who believe in the power of faith and forgiveness, we seek a true and enduring redemption for the Republic of Turkey, the direct descendants of the Ottoman Empire, through repentance and restitution. For, just as Scripture tells us that the truth will set us free, so too will justice set us all upon the path to peace. The difficult path to true forgiveness must pass through confession and compensation.

As Armenians and children of the first nation to adopt Christianity, we approach this holiest of days with a call to all of our Christian brothers and sisters worldwide, and to all Muslims, Jews, believers of all denominations and faiths, to join with us in offering a prayer for the Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Pontian, Greek, and other victims of the Ottoman Empire’s World War I-era genocide. Let us raise our voices in unison for peace and justice to prevail throughout the world.

Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan
Bishop Manuel Batakian
Reverend Joseph D. Matossian

http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/04/23/armenian-religious-leaders-issue-statement-on-april-24/