Diana Balazs
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 13, 2005 12:00 AM
The spiritual leader of the world’s 7 million Armenian Apostolic Christians will visit Scottsdale on Thursday to bless construction of a new sanctuary.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, will visit the Armenian Apostolic Church of Arizona, 8849 E. Cholla St. Ceremonies begin at 4 p.m. His visit is part of a U.S. tour this month.
The Scottsdale church is the only one in Arizona and serves the entire state. Arizona has about 2,200 families of Armenian descent with more than half living in the Valley. advertisement
The Scottsdale church has a multipurpose cultural center where both religious services and non-religious activities are held. The plan is to build a 6,000-square-foot sanctuary to be used only for Divine Liturgy, its worship service, said Scottsdale resident Jerry Avakian, chairman of the parish council.”It’s beyond what I can describe. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something that doesn’t happen at all in most communities. It is very fortunate that he selected to come here,” Avakian, 60, a real estate investor, said of Karekin II’s visit.
This is his second visit to Arizona. In May 2001, Karekin II visited Scottsdale as part of a U.S. tour celebrating the church’s 1,700th anniversary. Armenia, which is in Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey, is home to 2.9 million people, according to the World Factbook. It was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion in A.D. 301.
Although Karekin II is blessing the sanctuary site, the actual building groundbreaking won’t take place until early 2006, Avakian said. The church still must obtain design approval from Scottsdale.
Church members are continuing with fund-raising efforts, said Donna Sirounian, fund-raising chairwoman. The project is expected to cost $1.5 million with about two-thirds of the money raised.
The Arizona Armenian community is a close-knit one with many traveling far to attend the Scottsdale church.
Arsen Ovanessoff, 25, is a church sub-deacon who drives in from Tucson. Ovanessoff and Sevag Hagopian, another church sub-deacon, operate a Web site directory at www.azarmenians.com that links Armenians statewide.
Ovanessoff said he is excited about Karekin II’s visit.
“There are more Armenians outside of Armenia than actually inside Armenia throughout the world. It’s exciting that the Catholicos is coming. We call him the Catholicos. For me, particularly, he’s very involved with the youth,” Ovanessoff said.
Sirounian, who lives in Goodyear, doesn’t mind the long drive to Scottsdale. She said she is doing it for her two children, ages 2 ½ and 5 months.
“I’m doing it for them so they have a church to grow up in. It’s my heritage and faith. It’s very important for me to continue it,” she said.
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