100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide to be remembered at candlelight service

100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide to be remembered at candlelight service

(Marguerite Roberts)


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SALT LAKE CITY — In remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Cathedral Church of St. Mark will hold a candlelight service for victims of genocide and persecution.

The public is invited to commemorate this anniversary on May 1 with a series of prayers, hymns and biblical readings, according to the Very Rev. Raymond Joe Waldon, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Mark.

“We are going to remember all of those that have been victims of genocide and persecution, no matter what their faith,” Waldon said. “Specifically, we are going to remember the Armenian and the Greek and other people that were victims of the first genocide of the 20th century, as well as Christians that are currently being persecuted throughout the world.”

Leaders of the Turkish government planned to “expel and massacre” what some sources say was 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, according to History.

One and a half million Armenians in Turkey were killed by the early 1920s and many more were forced out of the country as the result of the genocide. To this day, the Turkish government “does not acknowledge the enormity or scope of these events” and it is illegal to speak of what happened to the Armenians during that time, History reported.

Some of the members of Waldon’s parish first brought the anniversary to his attention by notifying him that the Washington National Cathedral is for the anniversary. Waldon then called several Episcopal cathedrals in the country and learned they are holding specific events on May 1, one week after the recognized date for the Armenian Genocide, which was April 24.

The Cathedral Church of St. Mark first recognized the genocide at its noon Mass April 24 with prayers and biblical readings from the Episcopal Church’s Revised Common Lectionary.

“That date is shared by a lot of different faiths and it’s called the Remembrance of Genocide, so not only the Armenian Genocide, but also other genocides throughout the world,” Waldon said. “It’s a day that we pause in the Episcopal Church specifically to pray for those victims and to pray that it never happens again.”


I think an opportunity to stop in the midst of our life and remember those that not only have gone before us, but are suffering to this day, it's an important thing to do.

–The Very Reverend Raymond Joe Waldon


Waldon said they chose to remember the anniversary with the candlelight service a week later so that it could be an evening event that would not conflict with other events happening in the Greek or Armenian community.

A couple of weeks after the event was announced, Pope Francis called on other faiths to recognize the atrocities, Waldon said.

“It is the responsibility not only of the Armenian people and the universal church to recall all that has taken place, but of the entire human family, so that the warnings from this tragedy will protect us from falling into a similar horror, which offends against God and human dignity,” Pope Francis told Armenians, according to Vatican Radio.

The candlelight service will take place from 7 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark.

“I think an opportunity to stop in the midst of our life and remember those that not only have gone before us, but are suffering to this day, it’s an important thing to do,” Waldon said. “Sometimes, milestones remind us that we need to do that, and I think the 100th anniversary is that milestone.”

Gov. Gary Herbert signed a declaration at the Utah Capitol on Tuesday, recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and declaring April 24, 2015, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, according to a press release from the Armenian Community of Utah.

“Many Utah Armenian families escaped the slaughter, and forced deportation to slave camps at the time, with the help of the LDS Church and the LDS missionaries in Turkey at the time,” the press release reported.

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