"The 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide" 25/4/2005 Message to His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians Karekin II Your Holiness, It is with sentiments of deep sympathy and sorrow that the Church of Greece and her faithful participate in the 90th Anniversary commemorating one of the most heinous crimes perpetrated in the twentieth century, the slaughter of over one million five hundred thousand Armenians throughout the Ottoman Empire. More than half of the total Armenian population of two and a half million Armenians was either butchered in the streets or in their homes or rounded up and sent off to labour battalions, from which they never returned. Although carried out mainly between the years 1915 and 1918, by the Young Turk party, it was preceded by persecutions of the Armenian population initiated by the Sultan’s government in 1890, 1893, 1895 and 1896, begun in Trebizon and reaching its apogee in Cilicia in 1921. These persecutions caused the Armenian Diaspora to grow to an enormous proportion. It is estimated that Greece alone, despite the dire situation in which it found itself at the time because of the exchange of populations after it lost the war in Asia Minor, received and gave home and shelter to 50,000 Armenian refugees. Ever since the Armenian community has lived side by side with us in peace and harmony and has greatly and most positively contributed to all aspects of Greek society. Of course this is nothing new, since the relations of our two ancient peoples go way back and are lost in the darkness of prehistory. It was especially during the Hellenistic period that they came into intense contact that resulted in an exchange and intermixing of people and cultures. St. Gregory, the great Illuminator of the Armenian nation, lived for many years in the Hellenistic Caesarea of Cappadocia, where he was ordained bishop of Armenia by Leontios of Caesarea. Indeed, it is maintained that until the 5th century the Church in Armenia was spiritually connected to the Church in Caesarea. Moreover, until the invention of the Armenian alphabet, it was the Greek alphabet that served as vehicle of Armenian literature and culture. Although the Fourth Ecumenical Council brought about the separation of our two Churches, friendly ties between our peoples have continued to exist up to the present time. In effect, our two nations have followed a common historical course and have shared common vicissitudes and persecutions because of their Christian faith and identity. It is estimated that nearly one million Orthodox Greeks were massacred in Asia Minor by the Ottoman and Young Turks. This is why the Greek people, perhaps more than any other, knows all too well what the martyric Armenian people have undergone at the hands of our common persecutors. This is why we commiserate so intensely with you on this most solemn occasion. We join in praying for the repose of all those who were innocently sacrificed on the altar of ethnic cleansing and chauvinism. May they not have died in vain; rather, may their sacrifice serve as a reminder to the contemporary man of the horrific behaviour and the consequences of fanaticism and intolerance. May it be an incentive for all mankind to strive for the prevalence of peace, tolerance and understanding among all peoples of the world. With sentiments of fraternal esteem and love in Christ, +C H R I S T O D O U L O S Archbishop of Athens and All Greece