The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is one of the largest and most influential Armenian organizations in the diaspora, uniting countless Armenians across the American continent in defense of the rights of the Armenian nation and the pursuit of justice.
Each year, the ANCA-WR brings together Armenian and non-Armenian friends and supporters by hosting its annual gala dinner.
Once again, on the evening of Sunday, October 26, 2025, the ANCA-WR held its annual banquet, attended by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, current senators, and numerous advocates and members of the Armenian community who stand in support of the Armenian Cause.
On this occasion, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I addressed the attendees in English with the following message:
“I greet you in the spirit of solidarity with all causes aimed at promoting justice and human rights, which form the solid foundation and sustaining power of true and lasting peace and progress.
What brings us together tonight is the Armenian Cause — a cause of justice par excellence. Unfortunately, in today’s world, the word justice has often been abused and misused, losing its meaning, importance, implications, and impact. Justice is a sacred value because it is a gift of God. It is not human-made; it is divinely given to guide human life and to ensure equality, peace, sustainability, and progress. Therefore, the violation of justice is a sin against God and a crime against humanity, while the promotion of justice is indeed pleasing to God. This is the Christian understanding of justice. I believe that this is also shared by all religions and by people of goodwill.
Justice lies at the heart of human rights and stands as a core value in all international conventions and agreements. Justice and peace are deeply interconnected, conditioning and determining each other.
In fact, the call for justice is deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of our people. Advocacy for justice and human rights has always been a top priority for the Armenian National Committee of America, which continues to play a pivotal role in promoting the essential importance of justice for the Armenian people. It is a well-known fact that the Armenian people have been victims of genocide.
What befell our nation in 1915 was genocide — meticulously planned and systematically executed by the Ottoman Turkish government of the time. Some may attempt to describe it as a ‘great tragedy,’ ‘mass deportation,’ or a series of ‘isolated tragic events,’ yet historical documents and eyewitness accounts — including those found in Ottoman archives — clearly attest that the first genocide of the 20th century was committed against the Armenian people.
History repeated itself in 2024, when more than one hundred thousand Armenians from Artsakh were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homeland by the government of Azerbaijan. Their homes and belongings were seized, while churches and historical monuments were destroyed or stripped of their Armenian identity. Therefore, the Armenian people once again call for justice and the restoration of their human rights.
The United States has long stood with the Armenian people in their pursuit of peace with justice, as well as in their ongoing efforts to rebuild the Republic of Armenia. Indeed, the United States is not only a land of economic opportunity, but also a nation founded upon enduring values — liberty, justice, and human rights — which lie at the very heart of the American identity.
I was a student when the United States celebrated the bicentennial of its founding in 1976. I still vividly remember delivering a speech as a young priest at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., where I said that the identity and strength of this great nation lie in its unwavering commitment to human rights.”
