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The Most Rev'd Dr. Leon Checkemian
1848 - 1920
First Archbishop
Primus of the The Free Protestant Episcopal Church
2 Nov 1897 - 30 Dec
1900
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Leon Checkemian, the son of Jacob
and Rose Checkemian (neé Gruchian) was born in 1848 at Malatia (the ancient
Melitene) as a subject of the Ottoman Empire. Although originally a member of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, at the age of thirteen he met Dr. Leon
(Ghevont) Chorchorunian (1822-1897), who had not long been ordained Armenian
Catholic bishop of that city. Under his influence the family transferred its
allegiance to the Armenian Catholic Church and, according to his own account,
the young Leon travelled via Aintab and Aleppo to Iskenderun where he took
the steamer to Beirut, crossed the Lebanon Mountains to meet the Patriarch.
Presumably this was the celebrated Antony Hassun, who had served as spiritual
leader of the community from 1845-48 but did not resume his office for a
second term as Patriarch until 1866-1880. Although styled Patriarch of
Cilicia, the church headquarters were at Bzommar near Beirut at that date,
but moved to Constantinople from 1867-1928. Checkemian
was ordained to "the four degrees of subdeacon" on 20 November
1866; on the following day he was advanced to "the degree of high
deacon" and on 27 November 1866 was "anointed priest" in
Behesni at the hands of Archbishop Chorchorunian with the permission of
Archbishop Nazarin and also the newly elected Patriarch Antonius Peter IX.
He served as priest at Besui 1866-68, Aintab 1868,Gurum 1868-77, Malatia
1868-77 & 1878-81 before serving in Constantinople 1881-85 when he left
the Armenian Catholic Church.
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Checkemian's claim to episcopal status does not
appear until later. In 1901 he merely refers to himself as having
"received from the Archbishop of Malatieh, Armenia, the degree of
"Very Honourable Doctor". According to his seal, adopted after
1898, Checkemian was "consecrated a Bishop at Malatia, Asia Minor,
1878" and his own account was that on 23 April 1878 he was consecrated
as Bishop of Malatia in the great Cathedral of Malatia by Archbishop
Chorchorunian , receiving the titles "Most Honourable Lord Doctor and
Very Reverend."
As further evidence of his status Checkemian
quotes from Medgemovie Havidis, a daily paper published in Constantinople. In
its issue of 28 December 1881 it reports,
"The Most Honourable Lord Doctor Leon
Checkemian, who was ordained to the most honourable degree of Doctor by the
Right Reverend Chorchorunian, most Illustrious Archbishop, and who was for a
long time in Malatia, on his arrival at this time in Constantinople, directly
went to St. Jean Chrysostom Church, and there with his brethren in the
priesthood holding Communion unanimously yesterday in the same church,
celebrated High Mass in the presence of crowds of people, which was heard
joyfully. May the Almighty God again, with such help, make the nation glad
and bring down men of evil thoughts."
Although adduced as evidence of his episcopal
status, the press report provides no conclusive evidence but rather supports
the opinion that what Checkemian received from Chorchorunian was not the
episcopate but one of the ranks of Wartabyd, vardapet. It was not uncommon
for a diocese to be administered by a vardapet in the absence of a bishop and
he was accorded quasi-episcopal insignia but not the episcopal status
necessary to ordain. In his book, An Eastern Steps from Darkness to Light
(1890) Checkemian had spoken of being "Equal to the bishop in all
things, save the power of ordaining priests."
"This was his Oriental way of translating a
stipulation, made at the time of his consecration, that he should not confer
Holy Orders during the life of Archbishop Chorchorunian except with special
permission. In other words, he was Episcopus in partibus infidelium, a bishop
without regular jurisdiction consecrated to assist another bishop, now
commonly called a Titular or Missionary Bishop."
In Armenian the word, A-a]nort, arachnort,
referring to a diocesan prelate or primate, is a title given to the overseer
of a given diocese. There are many cases in the Armenian Church where the
arachnorts (primates) were vardepets and not necessarily bishops. A vardapet
arachnort had all the powers and authority of a diocesan bishop, except the
right to ordain priests. A vardapet who was arachnort had the right to confer
only minor orders. It is possible, therefore, that Checkemian was the
Arachnort of Malatia which means that he was the primate of that community
and this translated rather into his claim to be Bishop of Malatia.
He arrived in England in 1885 and, like many
penniless exiles, at first earned a living by menial jobs: as a stablehand
and a sandwichman. He appears to have made his first ecclesiastical contacts
with Anglicans as he quoted a letter from Dr. Frederick Temple, Bishop of
London, dated 4 June 1886 stating that as he had not invited him to London,
he could not be expected to maintain him. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr
Edward White Benson) was able to offer little practical support. Checkemian
was to complain bitterly of the "cruel" way in which they had
treated him, observing that "God made their hearts harder than
stones." Checkemian subsequently found a warmer reception among Scottish
Presbyterians, notably with the Rev'd J.G. Cunningham of St. Luke's Free
Church, Edinburgh. They made their own enquiries about his background as we
hear that Cunningham "sent out Dr. Checkemian's Letters of Orders (which
are in Armenian language) to a friend of his in Constantinople, who made
local enquiries and found that they were correct as stated. The letters were
returned and are now in possession of Dr. Checkemian." In reporting
this, Henry William Stewart, Rector & Rural Dean of Knockbreda, in the
Church of Ireland, Diocese of Down, affirmed "I have seen the document
and the seal but of course cannot read them." In 1889 Checkemian is
reported to have been preaching in the Presbyterian Churches of Belfast,
notably Berry Street Church and St. Enochs Church, Belfast and it was noted
that "He enjoys the confidence of and is warmly recommended by the most
eminent men in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland."
In 1890 he was still preaching and lecturing in
Belfast as Stewart noted, "He can now speak English fairly well and he
hopes to become a naturalized English subject before he goes back to the
East." It was at this time that he was taken up by Archbishop Plunket,
Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, as Stewart notes that Checkemian was still in
Belfast on 5 September 1890 and had visited the Archbishop. Stewart had a
high opinion of him, "I believe him to be a sincere man and to be a man
capable of exercising a powerful influence over others ... It is no doubt an
ambitious undertaking, but he is evidently a man of great energy and
perseverance."
Archbishop Plunket dreamt of weakening the power
of the Church of Rome by promoting Reformed Episcopal churches among
indigenous Christians outside the immediate sphere of influence of
Anglicanism. He took as his basis the decision of the 1878 Lambeth Conference
to make a "solemn protest against usurpations of the See of Rome"
and an undertaking that "All sympathy is due from the Anglican communion
to the churches and individuals protesting against these errors and labouring
it may be under special difficulties from the assaults of unbelief as well as
from the pretensions of Rome." He received Checkemian into the Church of
Ireland and on 4 November 1890 granted him a General Licence in his own
diocese of Dublin.
Another license, issued from Dublin on 25 May
1891, gives a much fuller picture of Archbishop Plunket's scheme. He was
clearly satisfied with Checkemian's adherence to the Reformed doctrines,
"You have duly signified to us in writing
your hearty assent to the Doctrine of the Church of Ireland and of the other
churches of the Anglican communion and your intention to teach nothing
contrary to the same and have moreover stated that whatever public services
you may be called upon to hold will be ordered so far as circumstances will
permit after the model of the Books of Common Prayer used by the churches of
the said communion."
Checkemian had obviously suggested that where he
has trodden, others will follow, as Plunket observes that,
"A large number of your fellow countrymen
together with yourself have renounced your allegiance to the Church of Rome
and have entreated you to visit your native country and to minister amongst
them in the exercise of your office as a priest in the Church of God."
It is clear that Plunket saw himself as giving
provisional episcopal oversight to what he hoped would be a future
self-governing independent anglican or episcopal community:
"You in accordance with what you consider
the usage of the Primitive Church desire to exercise your priestly office
under due episcopal sanction and supervision pending the more complete
organisation of those among whom you propose to labour and until such time as
you may obtain legitimate source have appealed to us for whatever help in the
above mentioned direction it may be in our power to bestow" and went on
to "provisionally" authorise you to exercise your office of priest
in the Old Catholic Armenian community wherein you have been requested to
minister and we do hereby offer to you such provisional episcopal oversight
as you may require in the exercise of that office."
In addition Plunket provided Checkemian with a
formal Testimonial, which the latter had printed and widely circulated. This
expanded the points covered in the Archbishops licence:
"He is not undertaking this duty for the
purpose of winning our adherents to the Anglican Communion, or to any branch
of that body. He is merely responding to a call from some among his own
people, who, in obedience to their own religious convictions, and in the
exercise of their own religious liberty, have spontaneously sought for his
ministry. As to what may become necessary in the way of future Church
organisation, he does not seem, so far as I can judge, to have formed as yet
any definite resolve. His present desire is simply to preach the Gospel,
leaving the result in Gods hand, and awaiting the indication of his will.
Meanwhile, however, should any designation of his
present position be called for, he would, I believe, prefer that he and those
who have sought his ministry, should be regarded as ARMENIAN OLD CATHOLICS in
other words, as a body of reformers who (in common with those bearing the
same title in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal)
repudiate the dangerous innovations and intrusive claims of the Church of
Rome, but who, nevertheless, hold fast to what they consider old, and true,
and scriptural, in the teaching and practice of the early Church of Christ.
As regards the Native Armenian Church, the
attitude of Dr. Checkemian is somewhat different, and may, I think be
described as follows:
Admitting,as he does, that the charge of
monophysite heresy brought against that church has been unduly magnified, he
yet deplores the many erroneous doctrines and superstitious usages, such as
the veneration of ikons, the invocation of saints, and the cultus of the
Blessed Virgin which unfortunately prevail within it at the present time.
On the other hand, he remembers that the Armenian
Church has never so yielded to Papal usurpation, or so committed itself to
any irrevocable formulation of error as to preclude a return to primitive
purity and truth. He recognises, moreover, the indubitable claims which, but
for the present degenerate conditions, it would have, as a National Church,
on the allegiance of the people of the land.
While, therefore, he cannot but sympathize with
those among its members who are compelled to seek elsewhere for the spiritual
food which the Armenian Church, as at present circumstanced, so lamentably
fails to supply, he would most gladly welcome, and as far as possible
encourage, any movement tending to internal reform whereby the many and diverse
religious bodies throughout Armenia, which now stand aloof from that Church
and from one another, might yet be presented with a safe and permanent basis
of reunion within its ancient fold."
It appears doubtful that Checkemian ever returned
home to put these ideas to the test. In the 1890's hundreds of thousands of
Armenians died in pogroms ordered by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The outbreak of renewed serious
persecution of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which began with the Sassoun
Uprising of 1894, would have been a strong deterrent. In the meantime,
however, Archbishop Plunket was able to put his aspirations into practice
when in September 1894 he consecrated Señor Cabrera as first bishop of a
Reformed Church in Spain.
In the meantime Checkemian had moved to London.
We know that he was living there from 23 June 1896 until 4 January 1901, when
he moved to Edinburgh. It was at this time that he came into contact with a
number of bishops of independent jurisdictions and it was through these
contacts that he probably resolved to follow through Plunket's vision by
establishing his own church. One of these was Alfred Spencer Richardson, who
had been consecrated bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church at Philadelphia
in 1879. This Church is sometimes referred to as The Cummins Schism after its
founder, George David Cummins (1822-1876), Assistant Bishop of Kentucky, who
separated from the Episcopal Church in America "on the old evangelical
basis, now and ever to keep this Church upon the platform of the Reformation."
Another contact was Mar Theophilus (Stevens), Patriarch of the Ancient
British Church, which traced its apostolic succession to the Syrian Orthodox
Church through Bishop Julius Ferrette (1828-1904). There was clearly common
ground here as both Checkemian and Mar Theophilus had a distant, but common
episcopal ancestry from Oriental Orthodox churches. They decided to cooperate
together.
On 2 November 1897 at St. Stephen's Church, East
Ham, Checkemian presided at the episcopal consecration of Andries Caarel
Albertus MacLaglen as Colonial Missionary Bishop in Cape Colony, South
Africa. He was also given the title of Titular Bishop of Claremont of the
Free Protestant Church of England which had just been founded with Checkemian
as its first Archbishop. Checkemian was assisted by three bishops. "To settle any doubt of his status
Bishop Stevens offered his assistance and consecrated Checkemian bishop sub
conditione."
Checkemian resided at 122 George Street,
Edinburgh from 4 January until 26 June 1901 he signed his application for
naturalisation as a British citizen in Glasgow on the latter date, having
proved his residency in the United Kingdom for an unbroken period of five
years and three days. His referees were all regarded as
"exceptionally" respectable and responsible persons, as they
comprised Dr. Cunningham and the elders of his church, "of which
applicant became a member in 1891, and they have known him since then."
The Naturalization Certificate was duly granted on 14 August 1901 with the Oath
of Allegiance taken on 17 August 1901.
Of Checkemian's subsequent career there is little
information. It would appear that he passed his responsibilities to Mar
Theophilus within a few years of their union. We know that he subsequently
contracted marriage as when he died at his home at 72, High Street, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent on 3 December 1920 of a cerebral haemorrhage, his widow Amelia
Robina Checkemian was present. Leon Checkemian was buried in the consecrated
section of Tunbridge Wells Borough Cemetery in Grave No. B-6-263.
Checkemian's contacts with Presbyterians and
other non-episcopal Protestant groups do not suggest any loss of belief in
traditional ministry, especially as he himself subsequently submitted to
episcopal ordination. A contemporary account of him officiating refers to his
"weighty" robes, ornate pastoral staff and with "the mitre an
enormous and awe-inspiring spectacle." If neither considered apostolic
succession as of the esse of the church, they both at least considered it as
of the bene esse.
Although encouraged by senior and influential
hierarchs of the Anglican communion, neither project ever enjoyed full
support of that church. He was received into communion and licensed at the
highest level but were never really Anglican. The Anglican Church in the
nineteenth century was closely identified with the power and prestige of the
British Empire. It was a misleading picture, however, as so much depended on
the fickle changes of British interests abroad and the equally volatile
generosity of public opinion at home. Taken up by one hierarch, he were as
easily dropped by the next who was wary of assuming the commitments of his
predecessors. Isolated in an essentially hostile society, Checkemian, having
once tasted the fruits of religious freedom in the West, could never return
back to his roots. He pinned his hope on a Church which eventually failed him
because it lacked the will to carry forward a vision set in progress without
the consensus and support necessary to bring it to maturity.
Anglican hostility and Orthodox indifference,
together with a lack of resources, meant that the Church was barely able to
begin the missionary endeavour for which it had originally been established:
Checkemian although endeavouring to advance the
work of the Church and to unite various groups which sought Orthodox
alternatives to Anglicanism or Roman Catholicism, was essentially a visionary
and a scholar, rather than a practical administrator or evangelist. He had a
somewhat naive trust in those who approached him, and often left himself open
to exploitation by men seeking the appearance, rather than the reality, of
Orthodoxy. It was almost as if he believed that the truth of Orthodoxy was so
self-evident and profound that anyone being exposed to it would not only accept
it and be converted, but undergo an inner conversion of life as well. The
simple-hearted charity with which Checkemian received potential converts
often led to the pain of betrayal. Nothing has changed by now!
THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The official schism of the Armenian church in the
VIth century did not prevent many bishops, along centuries, to remain in
communion with the Universal Church. Henceforth, since the XIth century, the
Armenians united their efforts to those of the Crusaders for the re-conquest
of the Holy places, and entered in relation with the church of Rome. However,
this union did not materialize. The rebirth of the Armenian Catholic Church
did not take place until late 1742. It was recognized as such by the Pope
Benoit XIV, and having at its head the patriarch Abraham-Pierre 1st
ARDZIVIAN. Its residence was first at the Kreim, close to Harissa, then the
patriarch bought land at Bzoummar where his successor built a convent and
placed the first patriarchal ecclesiastical community which became thereafter
a center of radiance for Lebanon, Cilicia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. The
Catholic Armenians have dioceses in countries of the Middle East, Europe and
in the American continent. Three congregations or masculine religious institutes
and a congregation of Catholic Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
share the monastic life.
From 1928, the Armenian Catholic Church was again
reorganized to the administrative, scholar, cultural and social level. The
number of its supporters is evaluated at approximately thirty thousand,
served by about thirty priests and monks, spread over eight parishes. The
Armenian Catholic Church is present in the religious, cultural, political and
social Lebanese scene. Although the Armenian people are scattered, they
maintain a sense of their national, cultural and religious identity
ABRAHAM-PIERRE ARDZIVIAN (1679-1749)
At all times, and in every community, there were
men who yearned more for science and truth than their contemporaries were.
The Abbot Mekhitar (founder of the Mekhitarists Monks) and Abraham Ardzivian,
founder of the Catholic Armenian Patriarchate belonged to this quality of men
in the XVIIth century. Born at Aintap in 1679, ordained priest at Sis in
1706, designated bishop of Aleppo in 1710, Abraham Ardzivian was banned from
his church because of his attachment to Catholicism. Expelled from his Aleppo
seat by the secular arm of the Ottoman Empire, four times jailed and once
condemned to galleys, in exile at the Island of Rouad, Abraham Ardzivian did
not stop preaching his faith, to win other adepts everywhere he went,
harassed by the emissaries of the Sultan. Hated by some, venerated by others,
he was the head of spear of the movement of religious emancipation, that
refused people to be taxed according to their adherence to the
"millet" which was created by the ottoman authorities. In order not
to grant to minorities of the empire their religious liberty except if
centered in a determined "millet".
This movement of emancipation ended at Aleppo,
the stronghold of Mgr. Ardzivian, who had in the meantime, taken refuge at
the convent of Kreim after his liberation of the island of Rouad. He was
summoned to rejoin his faithful to Aleppo, where they had succeeded in
appropriating one of the two Armenian churches of the city. Mgr. Ardzivian
arrived there in 1739. There he consecrated three Armenian Catholics bishops,
attended by two Greek Catholic bishops. The three new bishops in their turn
consecrated Patriarch Mgr. Ardzivian elected by his people on November 26,
1740. Yet the creation of an Armenian Catholic Patriarchate within the
Universal church required the approval of the Chief of this same Church. Mgr.
Ardzivian embarked then to Rome, where he was received heartily by Benoit XIV
(1740-1758), September 5, 1742. The 8th December of the same year, the Holy
Father granted him the Pallium. Then he wrote to the Maronite Patriarch Simon
Rouad: "We want to ask you to have for our Venerable Brother Pierre,
Patriarch, of Cilica for the Armenians Catholics, all considerations and the
most cordial friendship. This to be agreeable to us. Because we have for him
the highest consideration" (P. Raphael, "The Role of the Maronites
in the return of the Oriental Churches ", Beirut 1935, p. 40).
The official recognition by Rome of the
patriarchal election of Mgr. Ardzivian made only more poisonous the already
tense relations between the Sublime Door and the Western Powers accredited to
Constantinople. Patriarch Ardzivian saw that he was forbidden to all harbors
of the empire. He took refuge in his convent of Kreim, where the Maronite
hierarchy received him with open arms on October 6, 1743. Henceforth he
dedicated himself entirely to the consolidation of his Patriarchate and to
the organization of St-Antoine's Armenian Monks. After an illness he died on
October 1st, 1749. "The Maronites arranged magnificent funeral
ceremonies. One does not see something similar, said the chronicles."
(P. Raphael, op. cit. p. 41). Before his death, his last will was the
transfer of his Patriarchal Seat to the Convent of Bzoummar, of which he
ordered the construction, but saw it only with the eyes of the heart.
*Abraham-Pierre I Ardzivian was badly understood by his contemporaries. He
was taxed of ambitions, of little realism. It was made fun to foresee the end
of his Patriarchate, once the founder disappeared. All this beautiful people
had to undeceive himself, because the human aims were absent from the soul of
this Apostle, and because providence wanted otherwise. Since, 16 Patriarchs
followed him on this throne, 50 bishops of his Institute dedicated themselves
to this work and 500 members of that same Patriarchal Institute gave
themselves body and soul to continue his work everywhere Armenian communities
were established. *Benoit XIV, his great friend, made this remark to him one
day: "I strongly fear, that you will have troubles with the Patriarch of
Etchmiadzine the day when he converts to the faith of his Fathers. That day
would be the happiest of the mortals Holiness, and would serve him as the
humblest of his servants".
THE ROLE OF THE PATRIARCHAL SEAT OF BZOUMMAR AT
THE SERVICE OF LEBANON
The history of the Convent of Bzoummar identifies itself with certain
chapters of the history of 'Lebanon' "declared the future President of
the Lebanese Republic, Mr. Charles HELOU on the occasion of the Bicentennial
of the Convent of Bzoummar, in 1949. The Lebanese Mountain had adopted Mgr.
Ardzivian, this man full of faith and courage, as well as his Patriarchate.
Relations, since the beginning, full of cordiality and kindliness between
Maronites and Armenians, had pushed the Patriarch Jacques Rouad to grant them
the right to construct a convent at Kreim in 1720; the Patriarch Joseph
El-Khazen welcomed Mgr. Ardzivian home for some time after he was rescued
from the island of Rouad. He had forbidden all priests of other oriental
communities to hear confessions of the maronites faithful but "this
prohibition, did not concern, he wrote, our dear brother Abraham and his
priests. They all have power to confess, to celebrate the Holy Mysteries and
to preach everywhere they want in our churches" (P. Raphaël, Op. cit. p.
37). The utmost of Reciprocal confidence, Mgr. Ardzivian would attend
sessions of the Lebanese Council in 1736 and will sign its Acts. Mgr.
Ardzivian in his turn interceded with Rome beside the Prefect of the
Propaganda to push the request of Father Arsène Abd el-Ahad, Superior General
of the Lebanese Religious who came to Rome to ask for financial aid in favor
of his Order who were in debt. The Armenian Prelate named him Knight of the
Church, using the privilege granted him quite lately by the Holy Father. This Armenian Community adopted with love by Lebanon, did not stop
rendering the same treatment. The three Armenian convents were as many
centers of help at the service of peoples of Lebanon. The high esteem that
emir Béchir the Great had towards this Armenian Convent, made him consider
Mgr. Jacques Holassian, General Vicar of the Patriarch and Gregoire-Pierre
Vl, as one of the pillars of his government; whom he kept often at his home.
Mgr. Jacques was at the same time the confessor of Hussni Gihane, the emir's
wife, in whom he trusted in teaching her religious instruction and conversion
to Christianism. During the darkest days of his political career, the emir
Béchir donated in that same convent his riches. He died in exile and the
Armenians buried him in their church in St. Sauveur in Constantinople, from
where he was transferred to Beiteddine in 1946. These good relations heightened
the prestige of this Convent and imposed the respect towards all Armenian
names: honest people and devoted to the cause of Lebanon. Such were as well
the first and the last of the "Moutaçarrif" or governors of the
Lebanon: all two Armenians Catholics, Garabet Artine Daoud Pacha (1861-1868)
and Ohannès Kouyoumdjian Pacha (1912-1915) worked for the interest of
Lebanon, defending them against their hierarchical chiefs of Constantinople.
But before assuming their new office, these, two valorous Armenians came to
consult their Fathers of Bzoummar, of whom the secular cohabitation had
proven to be useful for the guidance of this country, object of internal
disputes. These Fathers, while keeping their national physiognomy, had served
Lebanon in the social, moral and cultural domains. This Patriarchal Institute provided a generation devoted to Lebanon;
it inculcated this same spirit to all students that passed by Bzoummar, of
whom we will mention only Rizcalla Hassoun (1823-1880) one of the great names
of Lebanese journalism and one of its pioneers. Father Antoun Khandji (member
of the institute of Bzommar) published in Arabic "Tarikh el-Ermen"
(History of Armenia), edited in Jerusalem in 1868. Another member of the
institute, Father Sikias published in Beirut Matboukh el-Ermen (Armenian
Chronicles ) for the greatest glory of reciprocal understanding. Today, these
centers of devotion at the service of Lebanon increased, thanks to the
presence of 250.000 Lebanese Armenians, thanks also to the religious chiefs
of these Communities established at Antélias, that came to shoulder the work
of the Fathers of Bzoummar, enterprise at the service of Lebanon since two
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