Elizabeth Warren, Cardinal O’Malley, Charlie Baker among the Speakers
BOSTON, Mass.—The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be commemorated during two days of public events in Boston on Thurs. and Fri., April 23-24. With these events, Armenians honor the memory of the one and a half million who were killed, and the legacy of those who survived.
All events are free and open to the public. The Boston Centennial commemorations are being coordinated by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America–Eastern Region.
Thurs., April 23, 7 p.m.: A Memorial Prayer Service will be held at Trinity Church, in Copley Square, presented by the Massachusetts Council of Churches in cooperation with the Armenian Clergy of Massachusetts. The service will feature a musical performance by Victoria Avanesyan, as well as a Requiem for lost souls.
Speakers will include Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archdiocese of Boston; Metropolitan Methodios, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston; the Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches; Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Temple Israel of Boston; and Bishop Gayle Harris, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
Fri., April 24, 1:15 p.m.: A brief musical and speaking program will take place at the State House, Ashburton Park, Bowdoin Street. Remarks will be offered by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian, and State Rep. Jonathan Hecht of Watertown.
A procession from the State House to the Armenian Heritage Park, located on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, will follow.
A brief program will follow at the Armenian Heritage Park, on Rose Kennedy Greenway, at 2:40 p.m. The program includes remarks by former Governor Deval Patrick, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. The Sayat Nova and Erebouni Armenian dance ensembles and the Zankagnar Children’s Choir will perform.
A Vigil will be held at the Armenian Heritage Park at 7:30 p.m. This youth-led component of the Centennial commemorative suite will weave together live speakers, musical performances, and video content to honor history, celebrate survival, and illuminate the bright future of the Armenian nation and its people.
The Armenian Genocide is a still unpunished crime in which one and half million Armenians were taken from their homes and intentionally and systematically slaughtered by the Ottoman Turkish government under the cover of World War I because of their Armenian ethnicity and Christian religion.
The date marking the start of the genocide is April 24—the day in 1915 of the first mass arrests, and later murders, of more than 250 Armenian community leaders, writers, poets, educators, and intellectuals.
The Armenian Genocide centennial commemoration events in Boston are being planned and organized by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America-Eastern Region. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit neremembers1915.org
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