The 1.5 million or so victims of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey were collectively declared saints by the Armenian Apostolic Church on Thursday, with CatholicosGaregin II saying that they died for their Christian faith.
The canonization took place at the church headquarters in Echmiadzin in front of thousands of people one day before the main official events in Armenia that will mark the 100th anniversary of the genocide. It was also attended by President Serzh Sarkisian as well as the visiting heads of the Coptic, Syriac and Indian Orthodox Churches and senior representatives of other Christian denominations.
The ceremony began with a procession of high-ranking clergymen led by Garegin from an Echmiadzin cathedral to a nearby open-air altar. It ended at 19:15 local time, symbolizing the year 1915 that saw the start of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the ceremony bells simultaneously rang in Armenian churches across Armenia as well as Diaspora communities around the world.
“During the dire years of the genocide of the Armenians, millions of our people were uprooted and massacred in a premeditated manner, passed through fire and sword, tasted the bitter fruits of torture and sorrow,” Garegin said during the canonization. “Nevertheless, in the midst of horrid torments and facing death, they remained strengthened by the love of Christ, bringing the witness of unshakeable faith.”
“Manifold testimonies of holiness, virtue, and the joys of spiritual selflessness are recorded as well in the tragic annals of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian who was persecuted for his Christian faith traveled the path of martyrdom with prayer as his companion” he went on.
“We believe that we are weaving the crown of a new spiritual rebirth for our people, by canonizing the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. The memory of our holy martyrs will heretofore not be a requiem prayer of victimhood and dormition, but rather a victorious song of praise by incorporeal soldiers, triumphant and sanctified by the blood of martyrdom,” added the supreme head of the Armenian Church.
The unprecedented decision to canonize the genocide victims was made last year by a council of bishops representing the church dioceses in Armenia and foreign states with sizable Armenian communities.