On January 6, Armenians around the world celebrate the Holy Nativity—an ancient Christmas kept on the original date the early Church once shared. But this year, that celebration carries an edge of трев and urgency.
In this personal essay—rooted in my own life at Southern California’s first Armenian church, Holy Cross (est. 1922)—I trace how the Armenian Apostolic Church became the spine of Armenian identity through Avarayr, invasions, genocide, and Soviet repression. Then I confront the crisis now unfolding in Armenia: a widening rupture between state power and the Church, with senior clergy facing arrests and prosecutions amid intensifying political conflict.
For a nation that has survived by clinging to its faith and memory, the question is blunt: what happens when the pressure comes from within? Read the full piece on Pasadenanow.
