Eastern Prelacy banquet honors Catholicos Aram I’s 30 years of service
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — On Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, more than 175 enthusiastic believers and friends filled the Garden City Hotel to honor Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia on the 30th anniversary of his enthronement. The banquet crowned four days of events organized by the Eastern Prelacy to mark the milestone.
The delegation accompanying His Holiness included His Eminence Archbishop Kegham, Prelate of the Western Prelacy; His Eminence Archbishop Papken, Prelate of Canada; His Eminence Archbishop Torkom, former Prelate of the Western Prelacy; His Grace Bishop Dajad, Executive Director of the Catholicosate; Very Rev. Fr. Hovagim Panjarjian, head of the Information Department of the Catholicosate; Very Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aprahamian, officer of Christian-Islamic dialogue and staff bearer; and Berj Apkarian, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Fresno. Special guests included Ambassador Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Armenian permanent representative to the U.N.
The program opened with the American and Armenian anthems, sung by Anoosh Barclay and Hooshere Bezdikian, followed by the Pontifical Anthem performed by the clergy. Welcoming remarks were shared by Richard Kanarian, who served as emcee, and Susan Chitjian Erickson, co-chairperson of the steering committee. Aram Hamparian, ANCA executive director, conveyed greetings from sister organizations.
Very Rev. Ardag Arabian, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Worcester, Mass., offered words in English and Armenian: “May your dedication inspire us.” Col. Aram Sarafian, chairman of the Executive Council, recalled His Holiness’ message that “the Armenian Church is far more than its sacred buildings or ancient stones; the Church is a living reality,” adding that he “inspires our youth not only to inherit the Church, but to enrich it and carry it forward with renewed strength.”
A video presentation highlighted achievements during Catholicos Aram I’s tenure, including growth of Christian education, religious and education publications, foundings of the “Cilicia” Museum and the Armenian Genocide Orphans’ Museum, renovations of the “Cilicia” Library, the reorganization of the Khatcher Kaloustian Pedagogical Center and various education and publishing projects. Additional initiatives included the Catholicos Aram I Armenological Institute, expanded services at the Armenian Sanatorium and nursing home, new facilities in the Catholicosate compound, continued construction of the Bezikian Center in Antelias Monastery and the establishment of monastic residences of the different clergy sections.
Ecumenical greetings were offered by Bishop Nektarios, General Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, who described Catholicos Aram I as “a man of prayer, a man of God,” and Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Vatican to the U.N., who praised the Catholicos’ leadership as “not a personal milestone but a missionary leadership with purpose.” It is also “the life of ministry, the expression of life in Christ that he shares with us, Christian service or quest for Christian unity of the ecumenical hope and deed that inspires us.”
Musical performances included patriotic and familiar songs by Anoosh Barclay, Hooshere Bezdikian and Karina Vartanian, whose rendition of Edgar Hovhannisian’s “Yerevan” inspired the audience to sing along.
Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, greeted attendees at each table and thanked those who helped organize the anniversary. “It’s so lovely when we come together, with the youth, with unity, with all of us,” he stated. Addressing Catholicos Aram I, he said: “He has adorned the Armenian firmament with his spiritual and intellectual brilliance, like a rainbow through his writings and oratory, he has enriched the treasury of Armenian culture.”
Continuing eloquently, the Prelate said: “He has been an educator to the new generation, calling them to assume roles of responsibility as the present and future of the nation. He has been a counselor to both ecclesiastical and lay leaders. He has been an unwavering defender of the Armenian Cause and he has been a builder, transforming the Catholicosate in Antelias and the monastery in Bikfaya. Above all, during the crises of the Middle East and the homeland, throughout religious conferences, he has stood as a bell tower of dialogue and peace. We offer our prayers that he may continue to guide us toward peaceful harbors for the splendor of the Armenian Church and enlightenment of the Armenian Nation.”
As Catholicos Aram I rose to speak, the audience gave him a lengthy standing ovation. He spoke at length about “this celebration being a major community happening in the life of the church” and related the spiritual journey that took him to Montreal and Los Angeles to Fresno and finally to New York. “I spoke and listened,” he said. “Our leadership for the youth must be taken seriously. We must act, think together in the Armenian way, on how the church and nation articulate together. It is through renewal and transformation. We must open ourselves to new horizons. Anniversaries are a pathway.” He highlighted three priorities: “Armenia and the diaspora must respond to happenings in the homeland. We need to open ourselves to future new realities. The life of our church and community will have to have a new vision and activism by the youth. And the church has to continue to be avant garde. The homeland and the diaspora are ONE.”
The banquet concluded with attendees singing “Giligia,” bringing the celebrations to a joyful close and reflecting the vision and commitment of Catholicos Aram I, which have made the Catholicosate of Cilicia a center of reflection, dialogue and action.
