Western Diocese

Listen to an audio recording of His Eminence Abp. Hovnan Derderian's remarks

It is truly with a sense of great pride that the Western Diocese informs the faithful that on Saturday, September 15^th, His Grace Bishop Jon Bruno, Primate of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, hosted a solemn evensong service in commemoration of the 80^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Western Diocese with many clergy and faithful in attendance from both Churches. A reception followed the service.

In his remarks, Abp. Hovnan Derderian said, “This is a glorified day in the history of both the Episcopalian and the Armenian Apostolic Churches. The honor bestowed upon the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the community on the historic milestone of the 80^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Church reflects the cordial relationship between the two churches and the commitment of our faithful to take upon themselves the responsibility to preach the word of God to armor their spiritual lives with divine light and knowledge.”

Following his remarks, the Primate presented Bp. Bruno with a traditional khatchkar, a carved stone, created to commemorate the day’s events, as well as a Pectoral Cross, the cross worn by clergy in the Armenian Church. Upon bestowing the Bishop with these generous gifts, Abp. Hovnan also presented each of the Episcopalian clergymen with special gift. Each attendee that evening also took home an Armenian Prayer Book as a gift from the Armenian Church.

The event was presided over by Bp. Jon Bruno, as well His Eminence Abp. Hovnan Derderian, with many clergymen present from each Church. Bp. Bruno offered the homily for the evening. In his sermon he said, “We have worked together to be the people of God at this time and this place…. It is wonderful when you are brothers and sisters, you can walk a journey even though there are differences in what you do and how you worship. It is wonderful you can worship together and be unified in the Christ.” In remembering the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Bishop said, “We stand with you in unity supporting that things like [the Genocide] will never happen again in this world.”

The Western Diocese is thankful that this historic event is the result of ongoing dialogue between the Episcopal Diocese of LA and the Western Diocese, which began in 2005. This dialogue has also resulted in the joint Episcopalian-Armenian Genocide