Bishop to pay visit to Toronto Armenian leader last here in '01 20,000 in Toronto prepare welcome Toronto Star Sep. 29, 2005 CHRISTIAN COTRONEO STAFF REPORTER The spiritual leader of Armenians throughout the world is coming to Toronto. And nowhere was it more evident yesterday than in an unlikely bastion of Armenian pride wedged between Highway 401 and the strip malls, high-rises and office buildings that flank Victoria Park Ave. While a trio of women potted fresh flowers outside St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, another dozen or so busied themselves inside, cleaning and freshening up the building. Aram I, chief bishop and supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, arrives in Toronto Friday for a six-day visit. In a room tucked inside the church's basement, Meghrig Parikian is holding his excitement in his hands. The priest has prepared a book with a golden cover to commemorate the visit. "It's in Armenian," he says, opening it. "But you can get an idea with some of the pictures." And so the Lebanese-born Parikian takes his time, lingering over every picture of the holy man that was once his teacher. As the pages turn, so does Aram's life, from a boy on a bicycle in Lebanon, where Aram and the church's headquarters are based today, to student, to leader of the Armenian Orthodox faith. The later pages tell of a peacemaker - a man standing alongside everyone from Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, to world leaders from France to Ethiopia. The Catholicos of Cilicia, as he is formally called, serves as moderator of the central and executive committees of the World Council of Churches, and is renowned for reaching across faiths, a tireless builder of bridges. In Armenia, which in the early fourth century became the first nation to declare Christianity its official religion, there's still a lot of peace to be made. Years after breaking loose from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has yet to reconcile with its long history of oppression. During what's come to be known as the Genocide of 1915, millions of Armenians were rounded up by the Turkish government, worked to death or marched into the open-air coffin known as the Syrian Desert. Not long after, the region fell under Soviet control. Although the Soviet era has long ended, the people of Armenia face an uncertain democracy under the heavy-handed regime of President Robert Kocharian. Allegations of corruption and brutality have dogged his presidency, spurring about a million people to leave the country, mostly for Russia, since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Which brings one burning question to mind. Why visit Toronto - twice, even, since 2001? After all, the city's Armenian community of 20,000 is tiny compared with some in the U.S. "Canada is considered one of the most active diasporas around the world, with its religious activities and achievements," explains Aris Babikian, a volunteer at the Armenian Community Centre who is helping co-ordinate the Catholicos's visit. "That's why Canada is always considered an important stop for any Armenian religious or political leaders." Indeed, the community's little patch in North York, where Aram will lead services on Sunday, has expanded since the leader's last visit. Most notably, there's a new Orthodox high school across from the church and community centre. A tour, Parikian said, will most certainly be in order. But at the moment, Parikian is just finishing his picture tour of Aram's life. Before closing the book, he lingers on an image of his mentor offering a candid grin to a little boy in his arms. "He so loves kids," Parikian says. "And I love this picture so much." http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1127944212229&call_pageid-8350130169&col-9483202845&DPL=JvsODSH7Aw0u%2bwoRO%2bYKDSblFxAk%2bwoVO%2bYODSbhFxAg%2bwkRO%2bUPDSXiFxMh%2bwkZO%2bUCDSTmFxIk%2bw8RO%2bMKDSPkFxUj%2bw8UO%2bMNDSPgFxUv%2bw8YO%2bILDSLkFxQh1w%3d%3d&tacodalogin=yes
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