The Hamazkayin Central Executive Board, after its plenary sessions in Lebanon, visited His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Aztag reports. Board chairperson Zakar Keshishan presented, in broad strokes, Hamazkayin’s forthcoming plans and direction.
His Holiness gave warm praise to Hamazkayin’s educational and cultural programming. He was enthusiastic about the new expansion of the Marseilles Djemaran. While speaking about cultural work, His Holiness says he considers it to be more important now than ever, when cultural values are receding in Armenian communities. “Culture is at the center of our struggle to maintain Armenian identity. Hamazkayin has shown itself to be a guardian and apostle of Armenian culture, right next to the Armenian church,” said His Holiness. He also referenced the decades of close cooperation between the Great House of Cicilia and Hamazkayin, and the importance of continuing to strengthen that bond, especially since it serves a role in preserving the Western Armenian language and Armenian culture more broadly.
