Message of His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians on the Occasion of the Commemoration of the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide
Dear faithful, A hundred and more years ago, one and a half million Armenians testified their loyalty to our God-given homeland and faith at the cost of their lives, rejecting apostasy and assimilation. They kept their faith and hope for the revival of our people alive. The Tsitsernakaberd memorial symbolizes that revival, which became a reality with the re-establishment of independent statehood in a small part of the homeland, as well as with the re-emergence of a new life for Armenians who survived the genocide in different countries of the world. Today in Armenia and Artsakh and in the Diaspora, nationally united in churches, in front of the memorials, we raise a prayer to God, asking for the intercession of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, so that with unity and indomitable we face the disasters and threats, fight for the victory of the Armenian justice and to contribute to the prevention of genocidal acts and crimes in the lives of our people and in the world. May the Heavenly Lord grant peace and prosperity to Armenia and Artsakh, and may the heavenly graces and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be distributed to all our people and all mankind today and always. Amen.