PRELACY JOINS HUMANITARIANS AT ELLIS ISLAND FOR THE AURORA PRIZE
On Thursday, November 6, representing His Holiness Catholicos Aram I and His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, Very Rev. Fr. Hrant Tahanian, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church of Watertown, Massachusetts, attended the 10th anniversary celebration of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in New York. Humanitarians from around the world gathered on Ellis Island to mark this momentous occasion and to honor extraordinary people who risk their lives to save others through the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
The 2025 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Jamal Eltaeb, a doctor from Sudan who operates one of the few remaining hospitals in the country, providing medical care to wounded and displaced people. Since its founding in 2015 on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Aurora has grown into a global force for good, helping more than 3.5 million people across 63 countries and funding 517 humanitarian projects focused on urgent needs such as emergency response, medical care, and education.
Notable scientist, philanthropist, and humanitarian Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Aurora (alongside Vartan Gregorian and Ruben Vardanyan), reflected on a single act of kindness by German soldiers who saved his grandfather from the death marches and made it possible for his family not only to survive but to thrive. In keeping with Aurora’s core mission, guests were encouraged to live as humanitarians, helping others in need. Although Armenians are not among the wealthiest nations, Afeyan remarked, their history and convictions compel them to be humanitarians.
Fr Hrant reflected on the journey to Ellis Island—where guests first boarded a ferry from New York, passed the Statue of Liberty, and reached the island, which served as the main immigration processing station for over half a century. Retracing the steps of those refugees helps one grasp the voyage that brought countless souls fleeing death to the hope of new life, and the consolation they felt when they gazed at Lady Liberty, also known as the “Mother of Exiles.”