Hayern Aysor’s correspondent sat down for an interview with pastor of the Armenian community of the German city of Baden-Württemberg, Priest Tiratur Sardaryan, who was recently hosted at the RA Ministry of Diaspora.

Karine Avagyan: Your blessing, Father!

Tiratur Sardaryan: God Bless You.

Karine Avagyan: You speak Eastern Armenian wonderfully. Did you receive your religious education in Armenia?

Tiratur Sardaryan: I was born in Armenia. I studied theology in Bulgaria and defended my PhD in Germany. At the invitation of the leader of the Armenian Diocese of Germany, I started my service in Northern Germany and have been serving in Baden- Württemberg for the past eight years. In 2007, I was ordained in Istanbul by Patriarch Mesrop who is, unfortunately, ill.

Karine Avagyan: Are there many Armenians in Baden-Württemberg?

Tiratur Sardaryan: There are about 70 Armenian families living in Gotingen. The region is as large as Armenia. Today, there are 5-6,000 Armenians living in Gotingen, the majority of which are Istanbul-Armenians, Syrian-Armenians and Iranian-Armenians. We are seeing the births of Armenians of the second and third generations already, and this is relatively a new community. We are trying to make sure the Armenians are connected to the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church and each Armenian feels at home within an Armenian church. While the Diaspora symbolizes dispersion, the Church symbolizes consolidation. The Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church is the first church in Germany that our compatriots leased from the Protestant church 35 years ago, and to this day, they serve Holy Masses and perform baptism ceremonies and wedding ceremonies. We also serve masses in various cities across Germany. Our compatriots come and participate and gather around the Church.

Karine Avagyan: Your Holiness, can the Church and the faith of the Armenian nation fully preserve the Armenian identity?

Tiratur Sardaryan: Preservation of the Armenian identity is hinged on several pillars, and the Church tries to keep those pillars strong. We have envisaged relying on four main pillars, that is, faith, education, culture and social service. We are trying to build the community on those four pillars. Faith is the mass. Faith is the power that provides the opportunity to make all this possible. As for education, I must say that the community has an Armenian Saturday school with 30-35 students. The school offers Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian language courses, lessons on the history of the Armenian Church, as well as history and literature lessons and teaches the children Armenian songs and dances. The children stay at the school for about five hours, and our teachers try to keep the national identity alive within the children through games, songs and dances. The parents also help preserve the Armenian identity through their children.

Karine Avagyan: Are the Church and the faith able to prevent mixed marriages and help maintain Armenian families?

Tiratur Sardaryan: Marriage is a strictly personal matter. We can’t dictate our will. What matters to us is to make sure the family stays connected to the Armenian community and preserves Armenian traditions. What is also important is to have the children of the family receive an Armenian education and upbringing and never forget the Armenian language and to make sure Armenian is the household language. In regard to mixed marriages, we need to be very careful to make sure the families don’t feel like strangers within the community.

Karine Avagyan: Your Holiness, what is the purpose of your visit to Armenia?

Tiratur Sardaryan: Christmas is a celebration of love and warmth. If we don’t Baby Jesus be born within us, then the celebration will be meaningless. If we allow Baby Jesus to be born within us, we open our hearts and souls, and the joy of Christmas resides within us, and you need to share that joy with those who need it. We tried to organize a charity act to provide humanitarian assistance to the socially disadvantaged families living in the bordering villages of Artsakh. We brought 26 tons of assistance. As for Armenian soldiers, during the days of the Four-Day Artsakh War in April, the community and cultural institutions raised 12,000 Euros and sent it to Artsakh, for which we received a letter of gratitude from the RA Ministry of Diaspora. This new charity act will become a part of the “What are YOU doing for Karabakh?” pan-Armenian movement launched by the RA Ministry of Diaspora. We are trying to make our contribution so that we can have a healthy and strong country in peace. We plan on visiting disadvantaged villages and do something to help the villagers. I have come from Germany to visit Artsakh, meet with the leader of the Artsakh Diocese, attend the ceremony for delivery of the assistance and meet with the socially disadvantaged families. I attach great importance to live and direct contacts and conversations with people. I have never visited Artsakh. They say it is like heaven. As for Armenia, in order to improve the situation of the country, we must first and foremost try to respect each other and treat each other like human beings, regardless of office, position or financial status. Each person is valuable. We need to respect people since respect will make us be kind to each other.

Karine Avagyan Will your programs be ongoing?

Tiratur Sardaryan: We need to consult with the Government of Artsakh and representatives of ecclesiastical organizations, make decisions, develop specific programs and implement them.

Karine Avagyan: The Ten Commandments must surely serve as the greatest lessons for all of us, but is there a Commandment that we should follow in particular and a Commandment that is a priority for mankind?

Tiratur Sardaryan: Christ himself talks about that Commandment. When he is asked what the greatest Commandment is, he says it is Love! You need to love another as you love yourself. If we try to find the image and breath of God within each person, that love will be able to move mountains. Each person must also love his job. Love is the most important thing!

Karine Avagyan: In this great mood, I ended my interview with Priest Tiratur Sardaryan, who did his best to not talk about his great contribution to the provision of humanitarian assistance. Builder Shavarsh Hovhannisyan, who was accompanying His Holiness, talked about it. As I was told later, Hovhannisyan has also carried out charity acts on his own. The best Armenians are always by the side of the Homeland and the Armenian people.

Karine Avagyan