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Something unusual will be happening at a big church in Livonia on Friday night.
Leaders of Metro Detroit’s four Armenian churches and those from other faiths will gather for a service at St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Basilicao to honor and remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide. April 24 is Martyrs Day that honors the1.5-million Armenians killed by the Ottoman government in the first mass ethnic cleansing of the 20th Century. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the genocide. Armenians have been fighting to get the Turkish government to admit responsibility for the mass deaths.
In addition to the service, which is open to the public, attendees will be treated to an outdoor digital art display on the church’s buildings and bell tower. According to a press release, projections of iconic Armenian churches and religious symbols telling the story of the Genocide and the Armenian nation’s rich religious influence will be produced by Detroit-area photojournalist Michelle Andonian and visual artist Gabriel Hall of New D Media Arts.
“This is an unprecedented event at a critical time in the Armenian Genocide movement," said Manouk Derovakimian, co-chairman of the Armenian Churches of Greater Detroit Genocide Committee in a statement. “One-point-five-million Armenians didn’t have the chance to live a normal life in this world, and we cannot forget them.”
The evening’s principal homilist will be the Most Reverend Allen Vigneron, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
The service begins at 7:30 p.m. at 18100 Merriman Road north of Six Mile Road in Livonia.
A reception with religious and government leaders will follow. For more information, contact Fr. Garabed Kochakian, pastor of St. John Armenian Church in Southfield, at 248-569-3405.
