THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH WILL BE CANONIZING THE VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ON APRIL 3, 2015
According to the Director of the Office for Church Conceptual Issues of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the canonization will be an unprecedented event since the last saint that was proclaimed and is remembered is Hayrapet Movses Tatevatsi, who was canonized in the 18th century.
The Armenian Church doesnt sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of saints or of those people that is already common among people or has been shown with evidence. This also means that the Church recognizes what happened, that is, the genocide, His Holiness informed, adding that the decision on canonizing the martyrs of the Genocide was taken during the Episcopal Meeting held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin last year.
According to His Holiness, there will be a ritual for canonization during which saints will be proclaimed with a special formula. The canonization committee has set specific terms and conditions for the creation of the icon. As for the selection of hymns, during the Episcopal Meeting held in Etchmiadzin in 2014, it was established that the canon of the hymns “Martyrs of April” by the late Bishop Zareh Aznavouryan of the Great House of Cilicia has been selected as the hymns for canonization of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. His Holiness also said the leaders of the Sister Oriental Churches and their delegations will also be attending the canonization ceremony.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, has issued an encyclical announcing the canonization of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The canonization service will take place on April 23, 2015. The encyclical also pronouncesApril 24 as the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Click on the following links to download the encyclical in English and Armenian.
