His Holiness Aram I condemns Deir ez-Zor church explosion

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS: After arriving in Athens, His Holiness Aram I was informed with deep pain and excitement about the explosion of the Deir ez-Zor church. Armenpress got informed about it in the official website of the Great House of Cilicia. The Catholicos strictly condemned the criminal act, stating: “This crime, committed on the threshold of the 100thanniversary of the Armenian Genocide and on the 23rdanniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia, we consider to be a barbarian act. Let the hands behind this terrorist act know that Deir ez-Zor, this sacred place of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, commemorating the memory of our martyrs and symbolizing the fight of our people for justice, cannot be demolished from the memory of our people”.

Earlier it was reported that the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian has issued a statement related to explosion of the Armenian St. Nahatakats/MartyrsChurch in Deir ez-Zor: “We strongly condemn explosion of the Armenian St. Nahatakatz/MartyrsChurch in Deir ez-Zor, commemorating the Armenian genocide martyrs, by the terrorists. This terrific vandalism against the sanctuary one more time shows the brutal nature of the so-called “Islamic State” terrorist group. International community should immediately stop and eliminate that plague threatening the civil humanity, should break the ways of nourishing it, funding, supporting and sponsoring.”

The opening of the memorial and consecration of the St. Martyrs ArmenianChurch took place in 1991 by Catholicosof the Great House ofCilicia Karekin B, and on 24 April 2002 it was proclaimed as a national place of pilgrimage by Catholics Aram I.