On Holy Friday, we stand before the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and look upon the deepest mystery of our faith. Many people looked at the crucified Jesus on that day and saw only a suffering man. They saw His wounds. They saw the nails. They mocked Him and treated Him like just another condemned person. But the One hanging on the cross was the eternal Son of God. The hands pierced for us were the same hands that created the world. The head crowned with thorns was the head

Paris, April 24, 2014 — Greeting François Hollande, then President of France, at the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Paris, together with Patrick Devedjian and Alain Terzian. Back in 2014, I was in France, serving as locum tenens, organizing the election of the new primate. One day, I received a call from Canada. It was from a bishop who was serving there as locum tenens. He said to me, “You know English and French. You would be a good Primate in Canada. I’ll bring

Today, we celebrate Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. We’ve walked through the 40 days of Lent praying, fasting, and reflecting, and now we stand at the gateway to Holy Week. In the Armenian Church, we mark this day with a deeply symbolic service called “The Opening of the Doors.” At the end of Badarak, the priest knocks on the church door, and people sing together: “Open to us, O Lord, the door of Your mercy, and make us worthy to ente