LA CRESCENTA—Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, the Religious and Executive Councils, announced on Friday that on the occasion of the Pontifical Visit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, benefactors Mrs. Tina Carolan and her son Richard Jr. have donated $100,000 to the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia and the Western Prelacy, on behalf of the Carolan Family Foundation.
This latest donation by the Carolan Family Foundation is yet another demonstration of their continued generosity and benevolence towards the mission of the Catholicosate and our Prelacy.
The Prelate and Councils conveyed their utmost gratitude to the Carolan Family Foundation for their unwavering support and encouragement.
Totally wrong. Clerics never in history have had a shortage of money, and neither do they ever get enough of taking people’s money. I don’t care what culture or country you look at, from the Far East to the Middle East, the Near East, Eastern Europe, Central and Western Europe in the Medieval Ages, and most definitely Latin America….the Church has sucked money off the people for centuries upon centuries!
Don’t give $100,000 to clerics, give $100,000 to the great cause of commemorating the Armenian Genocide in film. Doesn’t anyone find it ironic, that Hollywood which is the entertainment capitol of the world, and which is home to the greatest number of Armenians, year after year doesn’t even think twice about making films about the Armenian Genocide, but there is no shortage of films about the Jewish Holocaust. There are powerful interests that want to strangle any such step before it gets off the ground. There are forces that are against Armenians, but they won’t be against Armenians’ money. It is up to the Armenians to use any and all forms of influence and persuasion. “They” destroyed the MGM film in the 1930s “The 40 Days of Musa Dagh”. Who was “they?” It doesn’t matter whether it was some film studio boss who forced the director to destroy it, or some agent of the State Department who was ordered to do so as a result of the pressure of the Turkish Government. The fact is the mere existence of that film was an unpleasant and an undesirable thing to someone in power. Armenians in 2011 still are equivalent in status to the 1930s because it is up to the powerful to make such a film, or not to. And this shows that Armenians are not using their own resources for unilateral action. They are waiting to have their hands held by wealthy babysitters. I want to fully express myself and be totally honest, that when I found out Mr. Krekorian donated $200 million to UCLA, I said to myself that this is the height of sheer idiocy! It is precisely $200 to $250 million that will secure the creation of 4 to 5 world class films, based on the most devastatingly riveting Armenian Genocide books. Sorry, but when I read that $100,000 is being donated just because one man is visiting this community, no matter who that man may or may not be, I felt compelled to express my profound disagreement, and revulsion.
You allowed this anti-Christian hate speech on your website, but you censored my sensible comment congratulating the Carolans. Go figure.
While I’m not goint to tell how others should donate their money, I will say that your comment below AK is just about the most obtuse and primitive one I have ever read on this website.
“The Armenian people are nothing without their religion.” Really? Are you THAT one dimensional that you seriously believe this? Above even the Turks that committed Genocide against our people and the traitors that sold countless Armenian families out to the enemy to save their own hides, I hold single minded sheep like you more responsible for the death of 1.5 million Armenians than anyone else!
It was people like YOU that in 1915 told Armenian farmers to put down their pitchforks and huddle up in churches and pray for salvation while Turkish hordes were lighting up the building outside the door with flames.
It was people like YOU that preached to armed men to lay down their weapons and allow the enemy to “slap them on the other cheek” while they were being physically assaulted.
It was people like YOU that asked that Armenian mothers to “pray for their children” instead of fight for their children while their children were being slaughtered.
And most certainly it was people like YOU that during the Karabagh war again tried to preach “peace” while Shahumian was being shelled by Azeris, thank goodness we learned not to listen to your idiocy.
The Armenian Apostolic Church and our Christian faith has its place among the MANY facets of our culture, way of life, and ethnic identity. Although imbeciles like you would like to reduce the richness of our identity down to the base factor of merely us being “Christians”, thankfully, we as a people are far more than mere Christians and have a rich cultural history and identity that transcends millenia and includes many aspects, with our faith being only ONE of those aspects rather then the ONLY aspect.
So please go sell your garbage somewhere else. Ironically enough, it is die hard theocrats like yourself these days in Armenia that have caused a gross fracture of our Armenian Apostolic Faith to occur and our people have bled out and strayed to other denominations of Christiaity that entice them with money, foreign visas, and other material promises. These same groups yet never raise their voice for our causes, but when it is time to siphon individuals from our Apostolic flock, they are eager to oblige.
Please do the Armenian people a favor and shut yout mouth.
she should better donate this money to repair the Armenian churches in Gumri – second biggest city in Armenian- with most dirty carpets and poor condition- it was a shame to see Armenian churches in US, ANtilias and else where in Diaspora decorated, with clean carpets on the ground , while a church in the heart of Gumri or even in Shushi is in a such poor condition!!
Bravo to the Carolan family.
Arman: it is their money, they can do whatever they want with it. If you want to donate $100K towards a genocide film, then earn that money through hard work, and then you’ll be in a position to give it away to recipients of your own choosing.
Your posting displays your hatred towards God, and your false sense of nationalism which is divorced from God. The Armenian people are nothing without their religion. Your anti-Christian hate speech is destructive and not helpful at all.
“It is their money, they can do whatever they want with it.” Yes, that’s the mentality that keeps, and has kept, Armenians on “square one” for so many years. Some people squander it away gambling in Las Vegas. The less picky settle for Bicycle Casino or Commerce Casino. If a representative from one of those casinos comes to the Telethon with a $10,000 check, that’s only because over the course of a year Armenians throw away hundreds of thousands in that casino. But oh well, “it’s their money, they can do whatever they want with it.” There are people living their lives like materialistic swines, while in Armenia the poorest of the poor dig in trash landfills. Girls spend thousands of dollars on shoes, youngsters’ monthly cell phone bills are what people in Armenia earn in four months, spoiled and demanding people spend thousands of dollars on fancy vacations, and when it’s time to make bold steps, to display self-sacrifice, to think selflessly, very few remain….oh well “It’s their money, they can do what they want with it.”
Bishop T.D. Jakes said it best just last week….”they could’ve put their kids through college, but they spent it on liquor and women…..they could’ve invested for the future, but they spent it on nails and weaves…..”, talking about his people, how some have made terrible choices and that’s what’s responsible for their station in life, and not excuses that they are used to making.
What I’m trying to say is that I’m addressing national issues, how with all this at stake, with everything at stake, there’s no room for error……there’s no room for people to go off and do this or that with their money, simply because it’s their money. There’s no room for error!
These are national questions and in your criticism you’re raising the issue of individualism…she’s free to do what she wants, and I should go do whatever I want. NOW IS THE TIME FOR DETERMINED, COLLECTIVE, UNITED ACTION, not petty professions of individualism.
Now, as for you saying that my posting displays my hatred toward God, and my false sense of nationalism which is divorced from God…. I can’t possibly imagine how you came to that conclusion based on my comment. There’s no basis or logic to your statement, and I know that that’s all it is….a rush to judgement without any logical evidence. I criticized how resources are misappropriated. Basically I’m saying the church has enough money, there are many other critically important taks to be accomplished. The bottom line is resources have to be directed to those who provide results, performance, and efficiency. If you support someone to get money just because of his title and because he sits on a fancy, carved wooden throne, well I don’t. Jesus never received money or sat on thrones. He ate the simplest food and dressed in simple cloth robes. He was despised and hated, beaten, tortured and executed. Yet I see that Archbishop of Yerevan drives a $200,000 Bentley while the people are unemployed and desperate. Suicides are increasing in Armenia. While Archbishop Hovnan Derderian has received large portraits of himself, depicting the profile of his face, and I’m sure that portrait is hung in his offices of the St. Leon Cathedral. Jesus never had portraits……except a blood stained piece of cloth when the woman wiped His Face with it. I SAY THIS…..WHO IS THIS ARCHBISHOP TO HAVE PORTRAITS MADE IN HIS IMAGE? AND I WILL CONFRONT HIM PERSONALLY AND TELL HIM THAT THIS IS A DETESTABLE, VULGAR, GROTESQUE AND SHAMELESS DISPLAY OF VANITY! And he of all people, as a cleric, knows that in the Proverbs of Solomon, in the Old Testament, the famous lines are written “vanity of vanities….all is vanity….nothing is new under the sun….man in his greatest is altogether less than vanity.” That Archbishop is a man and nothing more, and yes I SAY THAT HE, THE ARCHBISHOP, IN THE AWESOME JUDGEMENT OF GOD, IS NO MORE THAN A COMMON SINNER. AS EVRY MAN, THE ARCHBISHOP IS NOT WITHOUT SIN.
Bravo Arman jan BRAVO, I salute you as a fellow Armenian patriot, man of reason, and person of character for what you have written.
Armenians need to wake up from their slumber and their sloth in order to stand united to not only merely “survive” but to thrive on the world geo political stage. Those that would want to lull us into a state of passive oblivion should be tarred, feathered, then drawn and quartered. ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
Excellent post Arman, magnificent, studpendous, one of the best if not the best thing I have read amidst all the articles or comments on this site.
she donated the money to the church, you should instead write to the church to use that money for repairs, renovations and upkeeping of churches.
i agree on the Armans comment about hollywood, but coming from a secular person, the church has been a pillar of our people, especially during the times of ottoman occupation. births, deaths, all kinds of records were kept by the church. we shouldnt write it off instead we should be more trusting of our people and guide it when it errs.
thats what a true patriot does. we are the people.
oh and thank you as well, selfless acts like these deserve NO comment or critisim, just praise
Perhaps the Armenian community can start to make their own fortunes and follow through on their suggestions of how OTHER people should spend or donate their money..
Tina Carolan worked hard for her wealth, and can do with it as she pleases. If you’d like to donate it to a church in Gyumri, then amass some wealth and do it. If you are one to think the Clerics are getting too much, amass some more wealth and give it to whoever you please.
Aren’t any of you the lease bit tired of telling others how to be active in the community, or how they should be the ones giving back because they’re rich, and NOT doing it yourselves? Oh, no…I forgot, everyone loves to tell others how to do everything when not doing it themselves.
Why doesn’t ANYONE who disagrees with this article put their time in as volunteers at the AYF, ARF, ANC? Or better yet, make some money, then I can tell you who to donate it to.
Buddy you don’t know the first thing about me, responding to you is simply something I shouldn’t bother with.
man u didn´t get the point! This is not about Tina Carolan but about corrupt church and community leaders who do not realize that only Armenians in Armenia will finally remain Armenians. Yes I was in Gumri and was in Burbank/CA too ( niche church and good decorated church , WAW – respect- when are u doing to sel it to build a gas station?? ) — an di was a shamed how people came to the church in Gumri and did pray to there Armenian god and people in Burbank and else where in CS were there to just show up and enjoy the sun … .nevertheless being not so reach I made my donation in Gumri out of shame – shame on Aram I and CO!
You have the forsight of a shrew. Kudos to Ms. Carolan for donating money to her church, nobody doubts her hard work or her generosity. That said, her wealth and acumen in obtaining said wealth does not make her invincible to criticism. Stating, “it’s her money, she can do anything she wants” is dandy, but it does not take away from the fact that funds could have been used more effeciently to drive forward a greater good.
When you toss big bucks into the arena of community, then you must be prepared to also accept critcism that may stem. The point being made here by Arman and the like is that our Church, while an integral part of our identity, for the moment is doing well, and perhaps other parts of our community effort could use the boost more.
This article is in line with the many articles written on Asbarez that show Person X donating large amounts of funds Y to “Alex Pilbos”, or “Ferraian” or some other school for new lockers and bleachers, and even more over paid “private school” teachers while amidst our nation building efforts in Armenia and Arstakh, there are schools in which the students do not have a leak free roof for the winter, or desks to write on.
The Armenian community worldwide supports various organizations, including the Church, to allocate the funds donated transparently to those efforts that truly NEED it, not merely WANT something. However, to see huge donations being given out then have those organization leaders living luxuriously is more than a little suspect. This does not necessarily pertain to our church per se however, the Church is also vulnerable to these types of incidents.
There have been more than one or two incidents in which Church clergy I have seen have driven off in new european luxury automobiles. How can a clergyman in this economy afford such luxuries when there are struggling Physicians that cannot? And if they can afford it, with what funds are they supporting their lifestyle? And did US Armenian School systems really need $500,000 from the Cafesjian foundation? How many times does Alex Pilibos or the like need their walls painted over or the lockers replaced? Funds like these could have gone to a fund for supplemental tuition for Armenian schools so that Armenians of all walks of life could attend such schools, not just the bratty kids of the upper middle class or wealthy.
Again, another great post Arman, unfortunately the portrait that you are painting is lost admidst all the chest beating.
I believe that our church has been our identity and lifeblood for the past 1,700 years, and it is impossible to disassociate it from out psyche, and therefore we must always uphold and support our church. However, Arman also makes some interesting points, but I agree with moustache.
Regarding the Kerkorian donation to UCLA, I must admit that I also found it very strange and disappointing. It made me realize that Kerkorian is not an Armenian and American equally, but an American with an Armenian background. Not that he doesn’t have a right to be, but we as Armenians often see an Armenian name and expect them to act as if they are Armenians temporarily in exile in their host countries, and therefore expect that their loyalty lies primarily with the Armenian culture. Thus we were left with some unanswered questions. For example, even if Kerkorian somehow felt betrayed with whatever he was involved with, what about the Armenian communities everywhere else in the world? Or for that matter Artsakh or Javakhk? $200 million could have had a profound positive impact in these areas. Instead we see him donating the money to a school that probably does not need it, for whatever reasons he had like taxes, or friendships.
Also I must say that I don’t think we have had a single world-class professional film about our culture. And we promptly blew whatever opportunity we had, like that horrid ‘Ararat’ film, which in my opinion did more damage than good.