Pilgrims visiting the holiest site in Christendom, Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, found its doors shuttered this week, in a protest against proposed legislation that would enable the government of Israel to tax and even confiscate properties owned by the city’s Christian churches.
A meeting of the Armenian Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council convened on February 20 at Holy Etchmiadzin, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
This year’s Midwest Lenten Retreat, held at the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House in Mundelein, IL, took place February 12-14 with the participation of 15 clergymen from the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America.
Holy Etchmiadzin hosted the recent assembly of Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches, known as the “International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue.” During a special audience, His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, welcomed the visiting clergymen, and offered his encouragement for their past and ongoing work.
On Wednesday, January 31, the Very Rev. Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan, Director of Ministries at the Diocese, represented Diocesan Primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian at a luncheon hosted by the Roman Catholic Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, and Rabbi Arthur Schneier, founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. The luncheon was organized to welcome Cardinal Peter Erdo, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Budapest, who is on a visit to New York City.
The religious leaders spoke about current events in Hungary, the International Day of Holocaust Remembrance, and the importance of interfaith dialogue.
