Posted in Videos | Tagged Lay ministry in the Armenian Church |
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Steve Wozniak rides a Segway through the streets of Yerevan (photolour)
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak is in Armenia to advise the country on investing in education and youth at the initiative of the Armenian government.
On Thursday, Wozniak, 61, met with Armenia’s IT business community and received a certificate from Synopsis Armenia for his “humanistic vision, enthusiasm and boundless energy in promoting innovation in the spirit of entrepreneurship around the world and in Armenia,” reported ArmRadio.
He is scheduled to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian Friday. Sarkisian is expected to award the former Apple Inc. executive with the “Global Award” for “Outstanding Contribution to Humanity through IT 2011.”
Wozniak is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, other government officials, university leaders and students.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), Wozniak stressed the importance of good education for steady growth of the hi-tech industry. “Even the Silicon Valley always attributed a lot of its success to good schools that had created a lot of good engineers,” he said.
Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, emphasized at the same time that this should go hand in hand with “inspiring creativity” in children and young people.
“In the age of the Internet it’s very easy for anyone anywhere in the world to come up with ideas that could catch on massively, instantly,” he said. “It’s rare but it’s usually from young people because they aren’t so set in knowing how to do things already.”
“Don’t restrict smart young people, whether they have a college degree or not,” continued Wozniak. “It’s not that great when companies require all sorts of degrees or certification. You have to be able to spot young people who will think for themselves and come up with good new ideas — the real innovators.”
The sector’s growth in recent years has been facilitated by a rapid spread of Internet access in Armenia. Tightening competition among local Internet providers has been improving the quality and lowering the cost of the service.
“I would say that … chess is the sort of thinking that is so involved in a lot of the working out the logistics of hardware and software engineering, being able to hold a lot of patterns, independent ways and results in your head,” he said.
“But you have to encourage people to want to do the best in the world and to be the best in the world,” added Wozniak.
The President’s Global IT Award serves as a great networking tool for potential future investments, adds to the prestige of Armenia as a growing high-tech hub, and helps highlight Armenia on the world IT map, according to Armenia’s presidential press service, which added that the award also “adds to the confidence of foreign investors in Armenia. The award consists of Gold Medal, Diploma and Trophy approved by Award Committee.”
Article printed from Asbarez Armenian News: http://asbarez.com
URL to article: http://asbarez.com/99270/apple-co-founder-wozniak-visits-armenia/
Posted in Articles, News | Tagged Apple computer, Armenia, Steve Wozniak |
Police say that in every case where a complaint is filed, the offender has been caught thanks to security cameras installed in the Old City.
By Oz Rosenberg
When Narek [g] Garabidian, a Canadian of Armenian extraction, came to Israel to study at the Armenian Orthodox theological seminary in Jerusalem, he never thought he would have to endure harsh insults from passersby.
For the past 18 months, Garabidian said last week, he has been spit at and cursed by ultra-Orthodox passersby in the Old City.
About a month ago he was spit at again, but this time, it hit his clothes. Garabidian, a former football player, said: "I pushed the two young ultra-Orthodox men up against the wall and asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ They were really scared and said, ‘Forgive us, we’re sorry.’ So I let them go."
When asked about the matter, Armenian clergymen said they had all been spit at, from the archbishop to the youngest of the divinity students. The most recent incident was on Thursday night, when a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews got together to spit at the gates of the Armenian church. However, the police found out about the incident and thwarted it by stationing officers in front of the church.
Police say that in every case where a complaint is filed, the offender has been caught thanks to security cameras installed in the Old City.
But in a verdict almost two weeks ago, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Dov Pollock said: "The enforcement authorities are unable to root out the phenomenon and do not catch the spitters."
Pollock dismissed charges against Johannes Maratersian, an Armenian divinity student, who was spit at by an ultra-Orthodox man in May 2008 and responded by punching the man. Pollock ruled that prosecuting a man who has been spit on for years as he walks down the street in his clerical robes would contravene the principles of justice.
The Jerusalem district police responded: "All complaints of mutual assault are treated with the utmost severity. In the past, more than one case ended with charges being filed and the deportation of clergy involved in assault. As opposed to the situation about three years ago, the frequency of spitting has declined dramatically."
Published on Sunday, November 6, 2011 in Haaretz Newspaper
Posted in Articles, News | Tagged Armenians in Jersualem |
![clip_image001[4]](http://www.armenianweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Condoleezza_Rice.jpg "clip_image001[4]")
By Khatchig Mouradian
Posted from The Armenian Weekly
In the newly released No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brags about her efforts to kill the Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress in 1991 and 2007, dismissing the genocide as “something that had happened almost a hundred years before” and about which “there are many historical interpretations.”
Rice reveals how in 1991, as the acting special assistant for European affairs for the Bush Administration, she was tasked with the responsibility “to mobilize an effort to defeat the [Armenian Genocide] resolution in the House of Representatives.”
“The Turks, who had been essential in the first Gulf War effort,” Rice remembers, “were outraged at the prospect of being branded for an event that had taken place almost a century before—under the Ottomans!”
“Back then I had succeeded in my assigned task,” Rice congratulates herself, noting that in the years that followed, presidents and secretaries of state continued “to fight off the dreaded Armenian genocide resolutions,” pushed forward, of course, by none other than “the powerful Armenian American lobby.”
Pulling a page from the Turkish state’s official narrative on 1915, Rice notes that the massacres of Armenians are better left to scholars. “Tragic” as these deaths were, “it was a matter for historians—not politicians—to decide how best to label what had occurred,” she observes.
Rice then proceeds to discuss her second encounter with the “dreaded” resolution in 2007, “in the midst of tension on the Turkish-Iraqi border and with Ankara’s forces on high alert.” Rice recounts how she begged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the vote, and the latter said “there was little she could do.”
She continues: “Defense Secretary Bob Gates and I delivered a press statement outside the White House, reiterating our opposition and saying that our own commanders in Iraq had raised the prospect of losing critical bases in Turkey. Eight former secretaries of state signed a letter opposing congressional action on the issue.”
At this point, having already argued a few paragraphs before that 1915 was old and passé, Rice repeats herself: “All this occurred over a resolution condemning something that had happened almost a hundred years before.”
The former secretary of state then notes that the Bush Administration persuaded Ankara that everything possible was being done to prevent a vote. The administration eventually succeeds in its efforts.
Rice proceeds to chastise Congress’ tendency “to grandstand on hot-button issues.”
“This was all the more galling,” she adds, “because the democratically elected Armenian government had little interest in the resolution. In fact, it was engaged in an effort to improve relations with Turkey, and it didn’t need it either.”
In two pages, Rice manages to repeatedly trivialize and deny the Armenian Genocide; mention, twice, that it’s a disputed, century-old issue; rehash the official Turkish narrative; and brag about killing its recognition efforts twice!
No higher honor indeed!
Posted in Articles | Tagged Armenian Genocide, Condi Rice |
This Saturday, October 29, the Armenian Church commemorates and remembers St. John Chrysostom (Hovhan Vosgeperan), a notable Christian bishop and preacher in Syria and Constantinople. He is famous for his eloquence—Chrysostom means “golden mouth.” The Orthodox Church honors him as a saint and one of the “three holy hierarchs” (along with Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian). He is also recognized and honored by the Catholic Church and the Church of England.
John converted to Christianity in 368 when he was barely 21 years old. He renounced a large inheritance and promising legal career and went to live in a mountain cave where he studied the Bible. He was later ordained a priest and soon his sermons were attracting huge audiences. He challenged wealthy Christians, whose generosity was confined to donating precious objects for display in churches. “The gift of a chalice may be extravagant in its generosity,” he said, “but a gift to the poor is an expression of love.”
His outspoken criticism was not appreciated by the hierarchy and he was sent into exile at various times. He had a profound influence on the doctrines and theology of the Armenian Church because he spent the final years of his exile in Armenia. Some of his important works have survived only in Armenian manuscripts.
Muse of the deep and ineffable Divine Mysteries.
Wise Prefect and Great Doctor of the world,
Like the rock of the Church, you were faithful to the key to heaven.
From the beloved disciple, you received the gospel.
From the Holy Virgin Birthgiver you received your symbol of authority.
O Patriarch John, by the grace of the Holy Spirit you received wisdom.
(An Armenian Church ode dedicated to St. John Chrysostom)
Above article is posted from Eastern Armenian Prelacy’s Crossroads E-Newsletter
Posted in Holy Fathers of the Church, Saints | Tagged golden mouth, Hovhan Vosgeperan, John Chrysostom |
Sourp Giragos Opens to the Faithful
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—Armenians from around the world flocked to Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir [Dikranakerd] on Oct. 22 to attend both the consecration of the largest Armenian church in the Middle East and the Badarak held the following day.
They were greeted with welcome signs written in Armenian, and with Armenian music playing on the streets, cafes, and hotels in the city.
Renovated by the Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation, with the support of the local Kurdish-controlled municipality, the church, which had witnessed a century of destruction, neglect, and denial, now stood as defiant as ever to the forces suppressing freedom in Turkey. And as the faithful of different religions prayed in unison, the political message wasn’t lost on anyone.
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir underlined the importance of confronting the past and seeking justice as part of the process of reconciliation and democratization. In an interview with the Weekly, the Kurdish politician said many view the renovation as an act asking for forgiveness. “You are not our guests. We are your guests,” stressed Baydemir, who heads the Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality.
“It’s a bittersweet return for the Armenian nation,” Raffi Hovannisian, the chairman of Armenia’s Heritage Party, told the Weekly. “Here, in this courtyard, you see the great potential and the depth of the loss we as a nation have registered.”
Scott Avedisian, the mayor of Warwick, R.I., who was invited by the Diyarbakir Municipality to attend the opening, concurred. “The faces of people who once worshipped here, were forced out, survived, and have now returned to their church, attest to the fact that they never lost hope and never lost faith,” he said. The renovation constitutes a “powerful message,” he added, as the church is finally “being used for the very purpose it was originally intended.”
Osman Kavala, the president of “Anadolu Kultur,” [Anatolian Culture] an organization that promotes the art and culture of the region, said that “both the state and metropolitan municipalities provided full support for this project.”
“They are open to confronting the past and the responsibilities of the local population,” he said, and expressed his hope that one day the initiatives in Diyarbakir “will have an impact beyond the city, on the national policy.”
“Our grandparents, incited by others, committed wrongs,” Abdullah Demirbas, the mayor of the Sur Municipality in Diyarbakir, told the Weekly in an exclusive interview after the Badarak in Surp Giragos. “But we, their grandchildren, will not repeat them. Not only that, but we will also not allow others to repeat them.”
The challenge in Turkey, he added, is not only to renovate churches, but to renovate mentalities.
The Armenian Weekly will continue to publish in-depth coverage and interviews from Diyarbakir and Mush throughout the week.
Posted from the Armenian Weekly http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/10/25/mouradian-armenians-locals-in-diyarbakir-send-powerful-message/
Posted in News | Tagged Dikranagerd, Diyarbakir, Sourp Giragos, Tikranakert |
Mini Oriental Orthodox Church Teen Retreat
Saturday, October 29, 2011, beginning 4:30 pm
The joint Armenian and Coptic Church Retreat will be held at
St. Mary and Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church in Milwaukee
1521 West Drexel Ave
Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154
***
IL/WI REGIONAL CHOIR WORKSHOPS
Workshop for Choirs of Churches of Wisconsin
Saturday, November 12, 2011
2:00PM – 4:30 PM
at
St. Mesrob Armenian Church
4605 Erie Street, Racine, WI 53402
*****
KNIGHTS AND DAUGHTERS OF VARTAN
BRUNCH
The Knights and Daughters of Vartan of Avarayr Lodge of Chicago will hold a brunch at St. John’s Cultural Hall on Sunday, November 13, 2011, following Divine Liturgy.
A portion of the proceeds will be shared between our Sunday School and Giving Tree project.
To determine the amount of preparation, we kindly ask that you email us at office@stjohnarmenianchurch.org
We look forward to seeing you then.
*****
The Diocesan Council
of the Eastern Diocese
Cordially invites you to attend a special cocktail reception honoring His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, on the 40th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Holy Order of Priesthood and his 20th anniversary as the Primate of the Eastern Diocese.
The reception will take place in conjunction with 2011 Diocesan Annual Appeal.
Sunday, November 13, 2011, 5-7 PM
NAHA RESTAURANT
500 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL
RSVP by November 7, 2011
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church
Tel: 773.637.1711, or e-mail:berjouhis@armeniandiocese.org
Posted in Upcoming Events |
"To abide by Etchmiadzin and to live for Etchmiadzin means to live with the holy legacy of our land, our history, and our Motherland. Furthermore, to live for Etchmiadzin constitutes our faithfulness toward our aspirations and expectations, all of them being our guide in Armenia and in the Diaspora. Today it is our collective dream to see our Motherland in good progress, and the Armenians gathered around her with our national and cultural values at hand, aiming at national and unified purposes, bearing at heart the vision of Holy Etchmiadzin and Mt. Ararat".
H.H. KAREKIN II, CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
The above pontifical message carries with it the kind of spiritual power that can transform the soul of every Armenian. It is a message focused on the authenticity and the validity of 1700-year old history. These words move our souls and oblige us to bow before divine and historic realities and make us confront eternal truths. It is in this same message that the Armenian Christian realizes his true existence.
How can we utter word
s on behalf of the mission of the Church without even alluding to the status of Holy Etchmiadzin, our Holy of the Holies? How can a person address the children of our people forgetting to acknowledge Holy Etchmiadzin and Mother Armenia which should appear on our lips and in our hearts in the first place?
Each word and each message that spring from the heart and soul of an Armenian should build both spiritual Etchmiadzin and spiritual Armenia in our being. Holy Etchmiadzin is indeed the birthplace of the Armenian Church, as it is the rock on which Mother Armenia is founded.
Glory and honor to Vasken I, Catholicos of All Armenians of Blessed Memory, whose inspiring presence ever cultivated our mind and soul with Christian love and faith, so that we could dedicate ourselves to our homeland and to secure Holy Etchmiadzin as the way of our renewed life.
Holy Etchmiadzin is the Font of our souls in which we were christened and which radiated a new capacity through the vision and the message of Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians of Blessed Memory. He distributed them to the children of our nation as spiritual nourishment and as a destination to eternity. Today the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is full of life, thanks to Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, who made himself the non-consuming oil burning in the Lantern of the Illuminator and the calling of our soil, a challenge that keeps us all awake in our commitments so that we may dedicate our lives in unlimited service to the Holy Altar of God. Indeed that Altar is where Christ descended, and it is through the light of that Lantern that we can behold the history of our past and welcome the dawn of our new Armenia, now bloomed and bright with the blessings of Holy Etchmiadzin.
The love of God obliges us to humbly acknowledge and justly witness the ever blossomed fields of the Armenian Church, headed by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Holy of the Holies of all Armenians. It was in front of the Altar of Holy Etchmiadzin that our ancestors bowed their heads loyally and faithfully, anticipating in their souls the rebirth of our present generation. Along with that experience, our Mother Language in Golden Age Armenia embodied the newly written scripts by St. Mesrob, and at the same time the heroic sacrifice of the Holy Translators assured the essence of our nation adorned with multifaceted virtues and values.
We remember as clear as today when in 1976 we entered the Mother See for the first time. The Holy See was the same then as today, attractive from within and from without. What we witness today is the tireless accomplishments of His Holiness’ twelve years pontificate. Today, what we actually witness certainly entices and obligates us, the clergy and the laity alike, to extend our just and sincere gratitude to His Holiness. This refers not only to the Mother See, but also to the complete objectives and missions realized in various fields projected from a clear crystal as it were. Those accomplishments represent only the beginning of His Holiness’ journey during his Pontificate, and God knows how much more miraculous achievements under divine providence will register our history in the coming decades on behalf of His Holiness, thus enriching "the Birthplace of our souls".
How is it possible to speak about the mission of the Church without saying even one word in favor of the Church unity, a dream with which our Church and faithful are living? It is a fallacy if our words addressed to our people do not pave way toward unity. In this temporary life what is expected from us, clergy and laity, is to reject all foreign and destructive powers that create distance between us and the source of our Mother Tutor, namely, Holy Etchmiadzin. The Armenian Church is privileged to have our Hierarchic Sees which comprise golden bridges spanned toward the Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin, the unmatched authority whose head is the Chosen of God, the Catholicos of All Armenians in the land of Armenia.
We express our deep respects to all of our Hierarchic Sees and to their honorable incumbents and salute them for their God-given service to our people through their equally illustrious leaders. This we say asking them to humbly achieve the miraculous unity and bring it to life so that they may rise in our history as truly illustrious models.
God of our fathers, we ask Thee to bless our Holy Church and the Armenian nation so that we may respond to the challenge of church unity in utmost faith founded by our Illuminator St. Gregory, by the vision of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob, St. Nersess the Graceful, St. Gregory of Narek, and of those numerous saints who served unselfishly who left behind our holy legacy. That legacy is the embodiment of the Armenian Church, founded firmly by God Himself, along with her mission which includes prime tribute to the memory of millions of our martyrs of the Genocide whose graves are left unmarked.
Our Church has been and today remains to be the Mount Tabor of our nation’s children. The Armenian Church is the anchor of our existence, as it is the "Altar of Light" for our lives. Under the arches of that church we preach the Gospel of Christ and spread the knowledge of God to renew the lives of our faithful.
Let us keep our Church away from the danger of dissension, the Church originated from the vision of the Illuminator and from the "Altar of Light" of Holy Etchmiadzin. Our Church is identified by the name of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Great Mystery in which we feel the descent of the Son of God who founded our Church personally by the golden hammer in His hand. The eternal existence of the Armenian Apostolic Mother Church is guaranteed by our loyalty toward the Mother See, as long as we concentrate our mind and spirit on that Great Mystery which rises from earth to heaven.
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Primate of the Armenian Church Western Diocese
Posted in Articles |
This Sunday, October 23, the Armenian Church commemorates the Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross (Kude Khatchi). Empress Helena, mother of Constantine and a devout Christian, wanted to find the True Cross. She went to Golgotha (Calvary), which had become an obscure and neglected place. According to some chronicles, it was an informed Jew named Juda who pointed out the location. After excavation at the site, three wooden crosses were found. In order to identify the True Cross, the three crosses were successively placed on the body of a youth who had just died. When one of the crosses was placed on him, the young man came back to life. This was determined to be the True Cross. The commemoration of this event take place on the Sunday closest to October 26, and can vary from October 23 to 29.
Christ’s exact burial site was also located, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built on that spot in 335. The church was destroyed by fire in 614 when the Persians invaded Jerusalem; it was subsequently rebuilt. The current dome dates back to 1870. Three denominations (Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox) administer and maintain the church and surrounding grounds, unfortunately not always harmoniously. Agreements strictly regulate times and places of worship for each denomination. Ironically, for centuries a Muslim family has been the custodian of the keys to the church, which is within the walled Old City of Jerusalem.
Posted in Feast Day | Tagged Discovery of the Holy Cross |
This Monday, October 17, the Armenian Church remembers six saints, namely, Longinus the Centurion, who pierced the side of Jesus, and became a believer at the crucifixion; Joseph, the foster father of the Lord, known as the Father-of-God, who was faithful to God’s command to be the earthly spouse of the Theotokos; Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Jesus, sometimes secretly, but was emboldened to go to Pilate and request the body of Jesus for burial; Lazarus, a close friend of the Lord, whom He raised from the dead; and Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, friends of the Lord and whose home Jesus visited often.
Posted in Saints | Tagged Joseph of Arimathea, Lazarus, Longinus the Centurion, Mary and Martha |
Milwaukee Armenians 
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