St. Gregory The Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church Of Toronto

PRESS RELEASE: MAY 28th

St. Gregory’s Armenian Catholic Church of Toronto
Yesterday, May 27th, 2012 was a historic day for the Armenian Catholic Church in Toronto and for the Canadian-Armenian Community of Toronto, Canada. At 11:30am, the Minister Hon. Jason Kenney arrived at the Church. He was greeted by Mr. Gary Chahinian, the Chairman of the Catholic Parish Council and Mr. Sarkis Assadourian. After a few photos were taken by the Armenian alphabet sculpture, the honored guest was ushered into the Church.
The Minister followed the church services attentively (Mr. Kenney is of Catholic faith) and received communion from the Very Reverent Father Elias Kirijian, Pastor. Soon after, the Minister was invited to the alter and said a few wards about the Armenian Catholic Church and Saint Maloyan (the Minister was at the Vatican for the beatification of St. Maloyan). Mr. Chahinian had the honour of introducing the Minister to the faithful. The church service was concluded by presenting a framed picture of the Armenian “Khatchkar” to the Minister by The Very Rev. Fr. Kirijian, Mr. Sarkis Assadourian and Mr. Gary Chahinian.

Following the Church Mass, the Minister had the opportunity to mix and mingle with the crowd for about 15 to 20 minutes. The second part of the day’s activities followed with Mr. Chahinian introducing Mr. Sarkis Assadourian, saying the following:
“Sarkis was born in Aleppo. He was the first and the only Syrian-born MP (1993-2004) and the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in Canada. He was also a Citizenship Judge for three years. Soon after his election, Sarkis headed a business/parliamentary delegation to Syria (1994). Since then, he visited Syria more than half-a-dozen times, including in 2001, with the first-ever visit to Syria by the Prime Minister of Canada. He was active in Maher Arrar’s (Syrian/Canadian) release from Syrian jail in 2004, who was charged with terrorism by the US. The last time Sarkis was in Syria was in 2008.

As an MP, he had the pleasure of meeting the Vice-President of Syria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Syrian Ambassadors, current and former honorary consul generals, and officials of the current government in charge of the Middle East/Syria. He is in contact with minority group leaders from the Middle East. He was interviewed on a number of occasions by various government departments in Canada.”

Mr. Assadourian introduced the subject of the “current situation in Syria and the Middle East affecting the Armenian Community” in six stages: The Muslim world and the Arabs, the Middle East, the Arab Spring, Turkey, Syria and the Armenians living in those counties. This presentation lasted about 30 minutes and was followed by a 45-minute question-and-answer period with the public.
At the conclusion, The Very Rev. Fr. Kirijian presented a special commemorative framed stamp to Mr. Assadourian, which was issued by the Vatican celebrating the 1700th anniversary of Christianity in the Armenian Nation.

A.C.C.T. Parish Council
St. Gregory The Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church Of Toronto