Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial site ground to be blessed

April 15, 2014 - 10:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ground at the site for the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will be blessed Sunday, April 27, during a 6 pm public ceremony at Memorial Park.

Retired U.S. District Court Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian will serve as Master of Ceremonies and the consecration will be performed by Hovnan Derderian, Archbishop of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Choirs from the Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School in Altadena and the Armenian General Benevolent Union High School in Pasadena will sing.

“I encourage the greater Pasadena community to attend this important event,” said former California Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who serves on the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Committee. “This Memorial will offer a place for reflection, hope and inspiration.”

Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard and California Assemblyman Chris Holden will be among the elected officials at the event.

The Memorial, approved by the Pasadena City Council in September 2013, will be completed and dedicated at the north side of Memorial Park in April 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians over a three-year period beginning in 1915. It will commemorate the Armenian Genocide and condemn all crimes against humanity

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.