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Ceremony Will Honor Leader of Armenian Church

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His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos, or spiritual leader, of one of the two major wings of the Armenian Apostolic Church, will be honored today by Pasadena in a ceremony at the Rose Bowl’s Court of Champions.

William M. Paparian, Pasadena’s first Armenian American mayor, will welcome Aram I, who is making his first visit here since he was consecrated a year ago as the 45th Catholicos, or pope, of the wing of the Armenian Church based in Beirut.

“We wanted to find a place of suitable stature for his holiness. Every city has a City Hall but there is only one Rose Bowl. It is a national symbol of excellence and where better to hold such a reception than the Court of Champions for the leader of Holy See of Cicilia,” Paparian said.

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With as many as 11,000 Pasadena residents of Armenian descent, Paparian said, hundreds of people have been invited to the ceremony welcoming the 49-year-old pontiff, who is on a 28-day tour of California.

The mayor will have a private session with the pontiff, moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches--the first person from Orthodox Christianity to hold that position.

Ceremonies will begin at 12:45 p.m. with a presentation of the colors by the U.S. Marine Corps. Pasadena Police Det. Randall Finlay will sing the national anthem.

Pasadena is one of the few cities in the country to recognize Armenians as a minority community that has been subject to discrimination. Many of its Armenian residents formerly lived in the Lebanon. The city recently appointed its first Armenian police chief, Barney Melekian, and the church plays a key role in social and political life.

“The position of the Armenian church in the Armenian community has been one source of strength and unity and reassurance for our people,” Paparian said. “It has always been a compass in my life.”

The Lebanese church recognizes the primacy of the main church in Armenia. The two branches work cooperatively and Aram I last week predicted their unification.

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“There cannot be two Armenian churches. Throughout history we have always been one church and we will be again,” he told 1,000 worshipers.

Southern California is home to more than 300,000 people of Armenia descent--the largest such concentration outside the Republic of Armenia.

Aram I, who holds a doctorate from Fordham University in New York, will attend a reception with Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan before arriving in Pasadena.

He will return to Pasadena’s Armenian Apostle Church on July 5.

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