Archbishop Choloyan offers opening prayer for U.S. House of Representatives

Archbishop Choloyan offers opening prayer for U.S. House of Representatives
April 22, 2010 - 11:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. House of Representatives opened on April 21 with a prayer by His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern United States, in which he invoked the memory of the Armenian Genocide and prayed that such barbarity never again be inflicted upon any of God's creatures, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Archbishop Choloyan service as the guest chaplain of the House of Representatives came at the request of New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long-time friend and supporter of the Armenian American community. Following the opening prayer, Representative Maloney offered brief remarks of her own, praising the spiritual leadership of Archbishop Choloyan and joining with him in marking the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

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.

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