PASTOR HOPES TO SPOTLIGHT GENOCIDE.Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer GLENDALE - The Rev. Vazken Movsesian sees grim similarities between recent genocides genocide, in international law, the intentional and systematic destruction, wholly or in part, by a government of a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. Although the term genocide was first coined in 1944, the crime itself has been committed often in history. It was initially used to describe the systematic campaign for the extermination of peoples carried on by Nazi Germany, in its attempts in the 1930s and 40s to destroy the entire European around the world and the stories he heard from his grandmothers about their escapes from death more than 90 years ago in the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire (ŏt`əmən), vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. Modern Turkey formed only part of the empire, but the terms "Turkey" and "Ottoman Empire" were often used interchangeably.. Movsesian, senior pastor at St. Peter Armenian Church Armenian Church, autonomous Christian church, sometimes also called the Gregorian Church. Its head, a primate of honor only, is the catholicos of Yejmiadzin, Armenia; Karekin II became catholicos in 1999. His rule is shared by the patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople and by the catholicos of Sis (Cilicia). Youth Ministry Center in Glendale, will leave for Rwanda Rwanda (r  än`dä), officially Republic of Rwanda, republic (2005 est. pop. 8,441,000), 10,169 sq mi (26,338 sq km), E central Africa. It borders on Congo (Kinshasa) in the west, on Uganda in the north, on Tanzania in the east, and on Burundi in the south. on Friday to chronicle the African country's 1994 genocide and to bring attention to the ongoing mass killings in the Darfur Darfur (där`f r), region and former sultanate, W Sudan. The region is mountainous, dominated by the central massif of Jebel Marra, which rises to 10,130 ft (3,088 m). Much of the terrain is dry plateau, and there are sand dunes in the extreme north. region of Sudan. Movsesian, 49, said survivors' accounts from Rwanda and Darfur resemble what Movsesian's grandmothers told him about escaping the Ottoman Empire around 1915: the men being separated from the women, the women being raped and the children growing up as orphans, with acts of barbarism along the way, he said. In 1915, it marked the start of eight years of mass killings that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians. ``It's exactly, exactly the story of 1915,'' Movsesian said. ``It's basically (that) we haven't evolved as a species. It's an incredible story, and ... as a religious leader, that's what I want to point out.'' Movsesian will join the Rev. Cecil L. ``Chip'' Murray, the retired pastor from First AME Church, on the Rwandan trip. Also in the 10-person delegation are Rabbi Susan Laemmle, USC's dean of religious life, USC professor Donald Miller and his wife, Lorna Touryan Miller. The Millers have previously visited Rwanda, which lost nearly 1 million people in a 1994 genocide that grew out of conflict between two ethnic groups. The Millers have written two books about Armenia, including ``Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide.'' When Movsesian attended the graduate studies program in religion at USC, Donald Miller was one of his professors. ``He was deeply affected, personally, by his grandmothers,'' Donald Miller said of Movsesian. ``Both his grandmothers are survivors of the genocide and he himself in his own ministry has really attempted to communicate, particularly to young people, the tragedy of genocide.'' Movsesian said all members of the delegation to Rwanda have varying reasons for going, and there is no single group mission. But Movsesian and the Millers plan to talk to orphan survivors who raised their siblings, and they both plan to observe how charities in Africa operate. Movsesian will describe his 10-day trip to Rwanda - as it happens - with either a Podcast or a blog on his church Web site, at www.inhisshoes.org. He also wants to bring back photos and video of the experience. ``Whatever we can get our hands on, just anything to make people aware of the tragedy,'' he said. Last weekend, young people at Movsesian's church fasted for 30 hours and raised money for famine relief in the developing world. Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com |
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