Centennial Committee of Central Virginia to Commemorate Genocide

RICHMOND, Va.—On Sat., April 18, at 11 a.m., the St. James Armenian Church in Richmond will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The church service will include participation by the Virginia Council of Churches’ general minister, Rev. Jonathan Barton, and several other visiting clergy and religious leaders. A luncheon will follow with guest speakers the Very Rev. Simeon Odabashian, vicar of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern United States.

A majority of the 400 members of St. James are descendants of survivors of the genocide. Beginning in 1915, the Ottoman-Turkish government massacred 1.5 million Armenians, expelling thousands to die in a forced march through the Syrian desert. In spite of their tragic history, Armenian settlers re-built their lives, survived, and thrived in Richmond. The Commonwealth of Virginia assisted Armenians, Greeks, and other minorities of Ottoman Turkey by establishing the Near Eastern Relief Act in the 1920’s to assist with re-settlement.

All across the globe on April 24, 2015, Armenian will be praying for their families who perished, and hoping that the U.S. Congress and President Obama will finally join 22 other countries that have ratified the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The goal is to recognize the genocide and to hold Turkey accountable for its—and its predecessor’s—actions so that permissive denial does not allow history to repeat itself.

While the world has been waiting 100 years for Turkey to acknowledge its perpetration of the genocide, Rwanda, Sudan, Darfur, and the recent atrocities against Christian villagers in Syria are now 21^st-century examples of genocides. To allow denial perpetuates further genocides.

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Central Virginia was created in 2014 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide for the families of the survivors. St. James Armenian Church is an Apostolic Orthodox Christian church established in 1956, and is located at 834 Pepper Ave. in Richmond. For more information, visit the committee’s Facebook page by searching “Armenian Genocide Committee of Central Virginia.”