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His Holiness Meets with Representatives of Sister Organizations  Following the ceremony, His Holiness Aram I, met with more than 200 representatives and members of sister organizations from Montreal and Laval over dinner at the Montreal Armenian Community Centre’s Aharonian Hall.
At the onset of the evening, Rev. Fr. Karnig Koyounian, Sourp Hagop Church Pastor, raised his glass to toast the re-election of His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Hagopian as Prelate of the Armenian Prelacy of Canada. In turn, Rev. Fr. Koyounian highlighted and congratulated the 15-year anniversary of the appointment of His Holiness Aram I as Catholicos. Prelacy Executive Council Chairperson, Dr. Jean Arakelian officially opened the night with a few words of welcome, and Raffi Donabedian, President of the Central Committee of Canada, spoke on behalf of the representatives and members of the sister organizations present at the banquet. During the evening, His Holiness noted that He “strongly believed in dialogue, of listening as well as speaking, of being straightforward and direct with each other,” and emphasized that “it is only with dialogue that we can build a bright and successful future together.” Accordingly, His Holiness encouraged attendants to feel free and ask questions they felt were pertinent, and for close to an hour, an open discussion with His Holiness took place about a variety of topics, from the important role women play in our society to Armenian youth and Faith. The evening came to an end with a special blessing by His Holiness and the joint rendition of the traditional song of the Catholicosate, “Cilicia.” |
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