STATEMENT BY ARCH. HOVNAN DERDERIAN
Posted on June. 8. 2023
ANNOUNCEMENT
BY WESTERN DIOCESE
It is with a disdained heart that we inform the faithful of the Armenian Church that three deacons namely Ara Dakessian, Dennis Dakessian and Hagop Demirjian, after multiple attempts and directives have willfully chosen to support an individual named Kevork Halladjian, who in an illegitimate and non-canonical manner, has received a “priestly” ordination by an individual named Ghazaros Kyureghian (Diran Kyureghian) who was defrocked decades ago.
Some time ago, Kevork Halladjian had applied to us to be ordained as a priest; however, for certain reasons, we did not give a positive decision and his candidacy for priesthood remained undecided. Contrary to our advise, Kevork decided to completely disregard our suggestions and applied with Sister Churches Coptic and Syriac to receive a priestly ordination. All of them rejected his application, foreshadowing the apparent danger that such an act would pose. In desperation, he defied the canons of the Church and received what he considers a “priestly” ordination by Ghazaros Kyureghian.
Consequently, Kevork Halladjian is an illegimate priest. He does not have the authority to conduct Holy Sacraments, be they Baptism, Holy Divine Liturgy (Badarak)/Communion, Matrimony. We regard his actions as without foundation and against the canons of the Church.
As of today, May 31, 2023, we hereby declare and pronounce Kevork Halladjian defrocked from the diaconate and forbid him to serve in any capacity as deacon in our churches whether spiritually and administratively. With this same notice, we forbid the participation as deacons of the above-mentioned, Ara Dakessian, Dennis Dakessian, and Hagop Demirjian because their actions demonstrate a schismatic stance and separation from the Armenian Apostolic Church.
We exhort the entire faithful to be faithful to the ancestral Christian Faith of our forefathers, holy and canonical integrity. The canons of the Church are above all else and we are obliged to distance ourselves from self-proclaimed ambitions.
We call upon our faithful to stay in touch with the Western Diocese under all circumstances to ensure the validity of priests who minister or serve within our diocese.
With love and blessings,
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Primate
Western Diocese Member
AVEDIS AGHYARIAN: “ARCH. DERDERIAN
PERSONALLY LIED TO ME.”
According to reliable sources Archbishop Derderian who had personally ordained Kevork Halladjian as a Rev. Deacon, kept on promising to elevate him to the rank of a Pastor/Married Priest for over two decades.
On June 13, 2022, Archbishop Derderian even went to the Armenian apostolic church of Upland as part of a pastoral visit showing his support for Reverend Pastor-to-be Kevork Halladjian.
But for invalid reasons he has been postponing and dragging his foot on keeping his promise to ordain a devoted spiritual servant as a married priest.
“When I went to personally meet Archbishop Derderian me” (to inquire about why Arch. Derderian is failing to carry out his promise) he personally lied to me,” said Avedis Aghyarian, a founding member of the Holy Cross Armenian apostolic Church of Upland.
Mr. Aghyarian explained that as a last resort, having given up on waiting for Archbishop Derderian’s empty promises, a delegation of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Upland went to see a Syriac Bishop. When the Bishop called Archbishop Derderian to discuss the ordination of Rev. Kevork Halladjian, Archbishop Derderian, completely denied ever knowing the Rev. Kevork Halladjian. For many decades, Rev. Kevork Halladjian has been reportedly sending Deacon Kevork Halladjian on various religious missions to many churches functioning under Western Diocese. But now, in his conversation with a fellow bishop, conveniently denied knowing Rev. Halladjian.
Western Diocese Deacon Ara Dakessian’s Response to Arch. Derderian
5/31/2023
Asdvadz oknagan Srpazan Hayr and good evening to all involved parties,
On Sunday, May 28, 2023, I participated in Fr. Kevork Halladjian’s “Antranig Badarak” at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Christ in Upland. Since then, you have contacted several of my family members, fellow deacons, and friends to communicate the message that you will strip my Diaconate title from me as a result of my participation in this badarak and continued support of the Upland community. A recommendation was made to me to submit an apology admitting a mistake had taken place and promising that I would never attend again. To be clear: this is not an apology.
Earlier this evening, on May 31, 2023, you decided to send a diocese-wide statement. You publicly shamed me, humiliated me and my fellow Deacons in Christ, Dn. Dennis Takessian, and Dn. Hagop Demirjian along with Fr. Kevork Halladjian, which quickly followed with distasteful comments from fellow congregants.
With your messages, you have disgraced and dishonored me, a 20-year Deacon of our church, for supporting Fr. Kevork Halladjian, whom you ordained as a Deacon alongside me in 2003. I have been a loyal and humble servant of God, an active participant of our church for over 40 years, since my childhood: first as an acolyte, and eventually as a Deacon. I have been loyal to God, to our Holy Church and to you as our Primate. I strive to attend my home church every Sunday and assist wherever a struggling congregation may need support. In addition to serving in Upland, I have also served in LaVerne, Whittier, Santa Barbara, Victorville, Albuquerque and not to mention many of our established and thriving parishes. Over the past many years, I have been a member of your AACCWD. I have served my home church as a Parish Council member, as Sunday School superintendent and teacher and I train altar servers and upcoming deacons. Believe me when I say I am not listing these credentials to boast rather, I want to communicate that, I help where help is needed, and the Upland congregation is in need of help. Allow me to humbly present to you a drastically contrasting suggestion to your current stance: send deacons from the diocese in support of Fr. Kevork Halladjian to spread God’s message in the Armenian Apostolic Church in Upland, CA; they need your support Srpazan Hayr, please do not wash your hands of this community as once Pontious Pilate did so during the trials and tribulations of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he was faced amongst the crowds.
I will continue to serve our church with or without my stole upon my shoulder, in or out of any Armenian Apostolic church of my choosing. No one person will or can dictate to me what church to attend or which church I can serve. The Armenian Apostolic Church of Christ in Upland is a house of God just as any other church in the diocese.
I am surprised at your recent stance on Fr. Kevork Halladjian: it was not long ago that I remember you personally celebrated badarak at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Christ in Upland and supported its congregation telling them you “will ordain Deacon Kevork soon”. On numerous occasions, you have sent Diocesan clergy to celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Christ in Upland. By supporting Fr. Kevork Halladjian last Sunday, I merely followed in your footsteps. Recently, you have withdrawn your support of this congregation and Fr. Kevork Halladjian for reasons known only to you. Following my own recent support of this congregation, you have threatened to remove me from my Diaconate rank in order to satisfy your personal motives. Now you forbid my participation as deacon, essentially defrocking me from the Diaconate rank as well.
Fr. Kevork Halladjian has worked tirelessly to support the same mission as you have: none other than the mission of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Let this be clear and known to all that there is no schism as falsely claimed.
It has become apparent to me now that it is a simple task for you to forget the life-long good deeds, dedication and commitment of those who support and love the Armenian Church.
Srpazan Hayr, during difficult times when people attempted to disgrace your reputation, made allegations about fraud and discredited your name and carried large pictures of you outside many of our churches, Deacons such as myself defended your honor and name and the Armenian Apostolic Church. To take away the honor bestowed upon Deacons such as myself that defended you in the lowest times of our church, swiftly erasing my name from the Holy Ordination Book blessed by the intervention of the Holy Spirit is a disgrace.
Your threat to remove my Diaconate title is sad and this unfortunate decision is yours to bear. The way you have forbidden my participation as Deacon is an ignominy. Having all this said, I do however, respect your decision. With age comes wisdom, and wisdom has granted me the view that I can no longer serve a leader driven by personal motives. Since you have made clear the intention to remove my Diaconate title, I have made the decision to deliver my stole to you personally and part ways permanently. You have driven away a loyal, devoted and dedicated Deacon; this rests solely upon your shoulder.
Srpazan Hayr, last year you came to honor my father Hagop Dakessian’s interment service since he was your teacher in Beirut, Lebanon. A short time later with the same breath you have wrongfully disgraced his son’s honor and name.
My father often shared these wise words with me: “today we are here, tomorrow we are gone, and forever we remain with the decisions we have made in our lives, so choose wisely in every action you take”. Today I sadly decide to choose to adhere to your decision. I humbly remove my oorar and place it in your hands.
I pray for new servants of God to replace me and fulfill the duties required to attend to our flock. As our wise and gracious St. Nersess Shnorhali so eloquently wrote: I pray for our names to be entered into the Book of Life for our good deeds; instead of abiding by this prayer, your decision to strip my title has discredited my name and lifelong dedication and contribution to our Holy Church. Srpazan Hayr, this is a sad day, but not for me: I can live without my Diaconate title. This is a sad day for your congregation for you are losing a dedicated servant.
Srpazan Hayr, may God guide your path through your tenure and send the Holy Spirit upon you to grace your decisions. May God grant you the wisdom to make the right choices for the betterment of our congregation during turbulent moments in our church. I pray that God show you the good deeds of Fr. Kevork Halladjian and my fellow Deacons in Christ, Dn. Dennis Takessian and Dn. Hagop Demirjian; to recognize the good they have done for the community.
I wish you success and good health. I do not or will not veer away from our true and Orthodox Armenian Apostolic faith, however, from this point you and I part ways.
A God loving, God fearing and loyal servant of God,
Ara Dakessian
Bedros Ara Dakessian
THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH IS HELD HOSTAGE IN THE HANDS OF ARCHBISHOP HOVNAN DERDERIAN
Editor’s note: Below is an abbreviated version of the televised response by Vosgan Mekhitarian – an author on several books and articles on Armenian Church, investigative journalist and an expert on the liturgical practices within the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Do we currently have such compassionate, noble, and courageous clergy that is ready to take the Church to the people and heal their spiritual and physical wounds? Unfortunately NOT.
Are we going to be able to prepare such a role-model clergy that is willing to uphold the canons and the Constitution of the Church and administer its precepts to the people? We hope so.
Unfortunately the Armenian Apostolic Church has tarnished its image by unholy and self-serving practitioners, such as Archbishop Hovnan Derderian. We no longer see benevolent institutions established by our Church, such as hospitals, orphanages, and missions for the poor and homeless, to aid and comfort a most needy laic population.
Therefore, by ignoring the poor, the Christian Church failed in its social mission, and the hard reality was that the Church could not survive or revive itself only with its theological and dogmatic teachings, and thus it could not stay true to its founding mission.
The image of the Church is a direct result of the social services it renders to the public. The less it renders, the less interest the public will show in the Church. The Church will no longer be the spring of inspiration, will lose its credibility, and cease to be the magnetic force to its faithful.
The success of the Church of Christ of Upland is the direct result of the social and religious service it renders to its faithful and will continue its mission, as our Lord Jesus Christ did, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28).
If a Church wants to succeed in its mission, it must revitalize the social services that it is sworn to deliver, and reach out compassionately to everyone who needs help and hope.
We need clergy such as Rev. Kevork Halladjian that is ready, willing, and able to deliver these social services to the public. With great devotion, love, and compassion, they must innately feel the frustrations of the public, share their pain, and act according to the precepts of the Bible.
Currently, such a role model exists in Church of Christ of Upland. Come and join the church and support its mission.
Televised commentary via USA Armenian Life TV on AMGA of Friday June 3, 2023
VOSGAN MEKHITARIAN: “ARCHBISHOP DERDERIAN IS TRYING TO ‘CORRECT’
A MISTAKE WITH ANOTHER MISTAKE”
During a May 28 gathering after the First Badarak/Liturgy by Rev. Kevork Halladjian, Vosgan Mekhitarian – an author on several books and articles on Armenian Church, investigative journalist and an expert on the liturgical practices within the Armenian Apostolic Church stated: “It’s already a public knowledge an insulting statement by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian. That letter has no legal merit. And it is not valid in any way. The Archbishop’s claims are misleading and misguided. Ordination of a bishop or a member of the clergy or a baptism are sacraments and no one can take it away from the person who has received such a blessing. Therefore whatever has taken place thus far (in terms of ordination of Reverend Kevork Halladjian is in order.”
Mekhitarian continued: “Archbishop Derderian thinks he can exploit this issue because he seems to have realized that he perpetrated a mistake. Now he is trying to ‘correct’ a mistake with another mistake.”
Addressing his remarks to the prisoners at the Holy Cross Armenian apostolic Church of Upland, Mekhitarian underlined: “You need to support this dynamic young and devoted pastor Rev. Kevork Halladjian because this parish has a bright future.”
He concluded: “With your participation and support, you will teach a lesson to all those who think that the Armenian Church is their personal business monopoly, that they can no longer treat the church as their personal domain. The Church is you, the community of parishioners. Without the parishioners a church may be looked upon as mere rocks and buildings.The Church is the People. Keep building your parish. Onward and upward. Many other churches will follow your step for their spiritual salvation.