Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On Friday, April 23, Very Reverend Dr. Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, travelled to Wales, UK, for the commemorations of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The representatives of the Armenian community in Wales, headed by Mr. John Torosyan, welcomed Fr. Vahan at the Cardiff Temple of Peace, where the Genocide Monument is located.

The day-long commemoration started with a visit to the statue of the Virgin Mary at Penrhys. There, the group was greeted by Mrs. Sharon Reece, General Secretary of the United Reform Church in Penrhys. This church played a central role in starting the recognition movement in Wales, and produced a special liturgy for the Armenian martyrs of the genocide. Following a brief prayer at the statue, Fr. Vahan thanked Mrs. Reece for the United Reform Church’s support of the Genocide recognition process.

At around 6:00pm the delegation returned to the Temple of Peace, Cardiff, where a group of Church dignitaries and government officials were gathered with members of the Armenain community for a requiem service in memory of the martyrs. Present around the Khachkar in the front yard of the Temple of Peace were, Canon Patrick Thomas, Vicar of St Peter’s Church, Carmarthen; Rev Dafydd Henri Edwards, the Baptist Union of Wales, Revd Dr Trystan Owain Hughes, Chaplain, Cardiff University; Stephen Thomas, Director of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs; Jenny Randerson, Assembly Member; Councillor Mohammed Sarul. The Primate greeted the crowd and invited them to join him in the traditional Hokehangist service, in memory of the martyrs.

Following the Requiem, the crowd was escorted to the Library of the Temple of Peace for a fellowship hour. Mr. John Torosyan welcomed all present and conveyed the regrets of Mr. Eilian Williams, the leader of the campaign for the recognition of the genocide in Wales, who regrettably could not be present being en route to Turkey to participate in human right conference in Istanbul and Ankara as the guest of the Human Rights Association of Istanbul. In an unprecedented gesture of solidarity, the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, had sent a message to the Armenians in Wales in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. Mr. Torosyan read the letter to those gathered at the fellowship. The First Minister's message is a remarkable milestone in the history of Wales government’s support of the recognition of the Genocide.  He then invited Canon Brown to address the community. After a brief speech highlighting the similarities in the history and faith of the peoples of Wales and Armenia, Canon Brown presented Fr. Vahan with a hand carved Celtic Cross as an expression of welcome. Fr. Vahan in turn reciprocated the favor by presenting Canon Thomas with a replica of an Armenian Khachkar.

The fellowship was an opportunity also for the Armenian community in Cardiff to meet their new Primate and receive his blessings. At the end of the evening Fr. Vahan thanked the organizers of the visit, the government and church representatives and the Armenian community for their continuous support of the Armenian cause, and promised to visit Cardiff soon again. Accompanying Fr. Vahan was Dn. Stephan Ovanessoff and Mr. Armenag Topalian of the St. Sarkis Trust.