In these days, 48 Tigranakert (Diyarbakir) Armenians are in Armenia. Two Muslim Armenians, Rahim Karakash and Sami Celik, expressed a desire to be baptized. The baptism ceremony was held in Holy Etchmiadzin church by Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan (in the photo). In the conversation with Aravot.am, Bishop Bagrat told that the brainchild behind this initiative is Raffi Bedrosyan from Toronto, who has been engaged in Diyarbakir matters for several years. “With the help of his friends, he initiated reconstruction of St. Kirakos church in Tigranakert, after reconstruction, the life there became more active. Now, an Armenian Language Course is organized in the church, the teacher is coming from Constantinople and teaches Armenian to local Armenians. The group visiting Armenia consists of graduates of the Armenian Language Course. They graduated and, as a result, came to Armenia. Among them, there are Islamicized Armenians and Armenians who have already been baptized in the St. Kirakos church”.
As for those being baptized in St. Etchmiadzin Church, who were named Angel and Stepan in memory of their great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Bishop Bagrat told that they had expressed their desire a day before the baptism and had said that baptism was really a conscious step for them and return to identity, as well as restoration of justice to their ancestors. We learned from the Bishop that Angel and Stepan know Armenian letters, they understand Armenia to some extent, but cannot speak Armenian. At the baptism ceremony, they had asked Raffi Bedrosyan to translate prayers and everything related to the sacrament. And at the wish of Bishop Bagrat, they repeated the words faith, hope, love and baptism in Armenian.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
