Church Officials Decry Alleged Gun Sales on Site

Armenian church officials Friday condemned alleged attempts to secure gun sales at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church, emphasizing the church was not involved and that security measures would be reviewed.

A church office and the parking lot were used by the 40-year-old son of a church leader to try to sell firearms to undercover agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, according to federal authorities.

“I want to say as plainly as I know how, to leave no doubt whatsoever, that the [church] condemns the kind of activity that is alleged to have taken place on our property,” said Archbishop Yeprem Tabakian, dean of St. Mary’s church. “This is a sacred place.”

Tabakian and other church officials said St. Mary’s, which provides multiple social services for the city’s large Armenian community in addition to being a house of worship, wanted to assure its congregation that it continues to be a safe haven despite any temporary disruption.

“The Armenian church has traditionally served as a community gathering place where friends could meet in their daily rounds,” said Armand Keosian, vice chairman of the executive council of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Western Prelacy, which oversees the operation of its churches.

“We felt it important to address the public about how the church has been affected,” Keosian said during a press conference at the Central Avenue church.

The suspects, Arthur Kabadaian of La Crescenta, and his alleged partner, Larry Lenenberg of Tujunga, were arrested last week and charged in U.S. District Court with dealing in firearms without a license and transferring unregistered firearms. They were released Monday after posting bail and are scheduled for arraignment Feb. 24.

Kabadaian’s father is Stepan Kabadaian, chairman of St. Mary’s board of trustees. Authorities said the elder Kabadaian is not facing charges.

When Arthur Kabadaian was arrested last week authorities seized more than 400 guns from the home he shares with his parents.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jerry Friedberg said Friday the case remains under investigation.

“Certainly the church is not a target of the investigation. The father is not facing any charges,” Friedberg said. “We’ll have to see what we turn up.”

Neither the Kabadaians nor their lawyer were available for comment Friday. Lenenberg’s lawyer declined to talk about the case.

Arsen Danielian, a member of St. Mary’s congregation and a lawyer representing the church’s international executive body, said he believed Stepan Kabadaian’s reputation would not suffer because of his son’s arrest.

“Of course he’s upset,” Danielian said. “But still, he’s dedicated to the community and he continues serving the community.”

Church officials said that because his son was arrested, Stepan Kabadaian requested that the Western Prelacy conduct any review of church policies.

Church officials said their review may take about 60 days. They were unsure what measures might be possible since they want the church--which is open from about 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily--to continue to be accessible to worshipers, youth groups and others as much as possible.

“If indeed this activity has taken place, it was the openness of the church and that open tradition that has served our community so well over many, many centuries, that led to this incident,” said Vahik Satoorian, treasurer for Western Prelacy’s executive council.

“How do we do what is humanly possible to scrutinize access to the church without interfering with its religious activities?”