Faith Feud: Armenians/Georgians in dispute over holy sites
July 07, 2006
ArmeniaNow
By Aris Ghazinyan
In early March, the Georgian Orthodox Church laid claim to six church sites and monasteries in Armenia, saying that it wished to re-establish ownership.
Since, a special commission at the Patriarchy of the Georgian Church has been working on the matter of the advisability of handover to the Georgian side. The Georgians and the Apostolic Church of Armenia had privately discussed the matter and agreed to not speak publicly about it.
However, the silence was broken, leading to extreme statements by both sides.
Georgian sources say the churches on Armenian soil are in a lamentable state. Expert on religious matters Giorgi Andriadze also raised the issue of Georgian churches in Jerusalem that centuries ago passed over under the aegis of Armenian clergy. “If the Armenian side is ready for discussing these issues, there is point in sitting at the negotiating table,” Andriadze said. “If not, listening only to the claims of the Armenian side is totally unacceptable for us.”
Andriadze implies similar claims of the Armenian clergy regarding churches in the territory of Georgia that have been set forth for four years already. According to him, the Georgian side raises the issue about patronage over Georgian churches not only to Armenia, but also to Azerbaijan and Turkey, and both these countries assumed a constructive position on that matter.
In 1997, the Georgian Orthodox Church quit the World Council of Churches – the governing body of ecumenical movement. This step of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II was conditioned by the realization of the need for carrying out independent policies in new conditions of aggressive globalization.
Representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church, archpriest Vasiliy (Kobakhidze), in particular, writes: “The current situation of the Church is catastrophic. In May 1997, it quit the WCC and the Conference of European Churches. While the Georgian state became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, the Church was leaving their “religious equivalents.” Should the orientations of the state and church be so diametrically different?”
The claims of the Georgian Orthodox Church to the six orthodox monasteries situated in the territory of Armenia are perceived by many experts in the context of its general policies.
As the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church told ArmeniaNow, in late April Holy Echmiadzin indeed asked the Georgian Orthodox Church to transfer under its jurisdiction six idling Armenian churches in the territory of Georgia. The matter concerned five churches situated in Tbilisi (Norashen, Mugnetsots Surb Gevorg, Surb Minas, Karmir Avetaranots, Surb Nshan) and the church of Surb Nshan situated within the limits of the town of Akhaltsikh. This initiative of the Armenian side aroused indignation of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a result of which the latter demanded a transfer under its protection six orthodox chapels in Armenia.
“The Armenian Apostolic Church had no other option, as we become witnesses of a policy of mass Georgianization of Armenian churches in the territory of Georgia and there is a necessity simply to save the cultural heritage of the Armenian people,” representative of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Fr. Narek Ghushyan said in an ArmeniaNow interview. “Unlike many countries, including Armenia, Georgia has no law on religious freedoms and therefore the Georgian Synod considers the activities of, in particular, the Armenian Apostolic Church in its territory not quite competent. We do not mind providing the Georgian side with orthodox churches situated in the territory of Armenia, however we are not content with the aggressive nature of the Georgian Orthodox Church’s policy.”
Presumably, this problem will be discussed during the visit of Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to Georgia planned for the near future. As an assistant to the bishop of the Georgian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church said in an interview with “Rezonansi”, the issue of the status of Georgian churches in the territory of Armenia has not been discussed yet. But Holy Echmiadzin provided a small Georgian community one of the churches in Yerevan for performing liturgies according to an orthodox rite.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
ArmeniaNow
By Aris Ghazinyan
In early March, the Georgian Orthodox Church laid claim to six church sites and monasteries in Armenia, saying that it wished to re-establish ownership.
Since, a special commission at the Patriarchy of the Georgian Church has been working on the matter of the advisability of handover to the Georgian side. The Georgians and the Apostolic Church of Armenia had privately discussed the matter and agreed to not speak publicly about it.
However, the silence was broken, leading to extreme statements by both sides.
Georgian sources say the churches on Armenian soil are in a lamentable state. Expert on religious matters Giorgi Andriadze also raised the issue of Georgian churches in Jerusalem that centuries ago passed over under the aegis of Armenian clergy. “If the Armenian side is ready for discussing these issues, there is point in sitting at the negotiating table,” Andriadze said. “If not, listening only to the claims of the Armenian side is totally unacceptable for us.”
Andriadze implies similar claims of the Armenian clergy regarding churches in the territory of Georgia that have been set forth for four years already. According to him, the Georgian side raises the issue about patronage over Georgian churches not only to Armenia, but also to Azerbaijan and Turkey, and both these countries assumed a constructive position on that matter.
In 1997, the Georgian Orthodox Church quit the World Council of Churches – the governing body of ecumenical movement. This step of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II was conditioned by the realization of the need for carrying out independent policies in new conditions of aggressive globalization.
Representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church, archpriest Vasiliy (Kobakhidze), in particular, writes: “The current situation of the Church is catastrophic. In May 1997, it quit the WCC and the Conference of European Churches. While the Georgian state became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, the Church was leaving their “religious equivalents.” Should the orientations of the state and church be so diametrically different?”
The claims of the Georgian Orthodox Church to the six orthodox monasteries situated in the territory of Armenia are perceived by many experts in the context of its general policies.
As the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church told ArmeniaNow, in late April Holy Echmiadzin indeed asked the Georgian Orthodox Church to transfer under its jurisdiction six idling Armenian churches in the territory of Georgia. The matter concerned five churches situated in Tbilisi (Norashen, Mugnetsots Surb Gevorg, Surb Minas, Karmir Avetaranots, Surb Nshan) and the church of Surb Nshan situated within the limits of the town of Akhaltsikh. This initiative of the Armenian side aroused indignation of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a result of which the latter demanded a transfer under its protection six orthodox chapels in Armenia.
“The Armenian Apostolic Church had no other option, as we become witnesses of a policy of mass Georgianization of Armenian churches in the territory of Georgia and there is a necessity simply to save the cultural heritage of the Armenian people,” representative of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Fr. Narek Ghushyan said in an ArmeniaNow interview. “Unlike many countries, including Armenia, Georgia has no law on religious freedoms and therefore the Georgian Synod considers the activities of, in particular, the Armenian Apostolic Church in its territory not quite competent. We do not mind providing the Georgian side with orthodox churches situated in the territory of Armenia, however we are not content with the aggressive nature of the Georgian Orthodox Church’s policy.”
Presumably, this problem will be discussed during the visit of Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to Georgia planned for the near future. As an assistant to the bishop of the Georgian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church said in an interview with “Rezonansi”, the issue of the status of Georgian churches in the territory of Armenia has not been discussed yet. But Holy Echmiadzin provided a small Georgian community one of the churches in Yerevan for performing liturgies according to an orthodox rite.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 11:07 AM
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