Starting on Monday, August 1st and ending on Monday afternoon, August 8th, 2011, His Eminence Archbishop Avak Asadourian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq, paid a pastoral visit to the autonomous region of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq, mainly to inspect the work of our new Church which is being built in the village of Havresk (Hye Verejh) in the province of Duhok. On Thursday August 4th, Avak Serpazan traveled to the village of Havresk and met with the residents of the village in the “Levon Pasha” hall. During the meeting the Primate listened to the complaints of the villagers and offered some solutions regarding the problems.
His Eminence also visited the Armenian Communities of Erbil and Duhok cities in a non-official capacity. On Friday August 5th Serpazan Hayr delivered the sermon during the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the St. Nersess Shenorhali Armenian Church in Duhok city.
Because of rampant insecurity especially in Baghdad and Mosul cities since 2003, the Armenian communities in Iraq have been experiencing inner migration as is the case with other Christian denominations and minorities. This caused a number of our Armenian people to relocate into the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq. Hence, our Diocese is faced with the obligation and Christian duty of building new churches for our faithful.
This house of worship is being built through the generous donation by the Association of Churches in Germany and Switzerland with the able coordination of CAPNI Foundation. We offer our appreciation for this Christian act of extending a helping hand.
During his visit Serpazan gave instructions regarding the progress of the work and offered some details pertaining to arrangements specific to our Mother Church.
It is important to note that due to limited funding we could not build this Church in an entirely Armenian architectural style. So we had to improvise for the greater glory of Almighty God. We hope this church to be completed early next year.
His Eminence was accompanied by the parish priests of our Churches of Zakho and Duhok, Fr. Artoon Khalatian and Fr. Masis Shahinian respectively. Also, accompanying Serpazan were two parish council members from Erbil.
Returning to Erbil, His Eminence presented his condolences to the families and relatives of recently departed two Armenian men on Saturday and Sunday August 6th and 7th in the community center.
We include some photographs of the visit, of the new Church under construction, and some of the Sunday School children in Havresk.
Divan of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq
12 August, 2011
See the pictures at:
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