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NO EXCHANGE OF CHURCHES EXPECTED BETWEEN ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH (AAC) AND GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
arminfo
2007-06-14 00:54:00
No exchange of churches is expected between the Armenian Apostolic
Church (AAC) and Georgian Orthodox Church in the course of the
visit of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to Tbilisi, Press
Secretary of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, priest Vaghram
Melikyan told ArmInfo. He has not specified the date of the visit so
far. He mentioned that AAC expects settlement of two problems set to
the Georgian authorities: the status of the Georgian Diocese of AAC
and return of the Armenian historical churches to it. "The status
of a legal entity is inadmissible to religious organizations. Hence,
the Georgian Diocese of AAC has no status at present and the churches
belonging to it are not its property," he said.
After Georgia has gained indepedence, some of the local Armenian
churches were used as libraries or were transformed into Georgian
churches. Some Georgian historians have created a distorted opinion
that these churches were Georgian from the very beginning and then
were sold to Armenians or allegedly these churches were built on
the basis of Georgian ones. Now, the Georgian Diocese of AAC has
only 21 churches and demands back the churches that had belonged
to it for centuries. Some of these churches were confiscated in
the Soviet period. In this connection, His Holiness Karekin II sent
official messages to the Georgian leadership. In response, a number
of Georgian officials stated that there are Georgian churches in the
regions of Lori and Tashir. They even demanded these churches to be
returned. Recently, Georgian religious expert Basil Kobakhidze stated
that in the course of the visit of the Catholicos of All Armenians to
Tbilisi, the Armenian and Georgian churches will sign an agreement
on transfer of 10 churches to AAC. In return, Georgia will receive
7 churches in Lori and Tavush.
The situation is still tense. However, no exchange of churches is
expected, V. Melikyan said.
arminfo
2007-06-14 00:54:00
No exchange of churches is expected between the Armenian Apostolic
Church (AAC) and Georgian Orthodox Church in the course of the
visit of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to Tbilisi, Press
Secretary of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, priest Vaghram
Melikyan told ArmInfo. He has not specified the date of the visit so
far. He mentioned that AAC expects settlement of two problems set to
the Georgian authorities: the status of the Georgian Diocese of AAC
and return of the Armenian historical churches to it. "The status
of a legal entity is inadmissible to religious organizations. Hence,
the Georgian Diocese of AAC has no status at present and the churches
belonging to it are not its property," he said.
After Georgia has gained indepedence, some of the local Armenian
churches were used as libraries or were transformed into Georgian
churches. Some Georgian historians have created a distorted opinion
that these churches were Georgian from the very beginning and then
were sold to Armenians or allegedly these churches were built on
the basis of Georgian ones. Now, the Georgian Diocese of AAC has
only 21 churches and demands back the churches that had belonged
to it for centuries. Some of these churches were confiscated in
the Soviet period. In this connection, His Holiness Karekin II sent
official messages to the Georgian leadership. In response, a number
of Georgian officials stated that there are Georgian churches in the
regions of Lori and Tashir. They even demanded these churches to be
returned. Recently, Georgian religious expert Basil Kobakhidze stated
that in the course of the visit of the Catholicos of All Armenians to
Tbilisi, the Armenian and Georgian churches will sign an agreement
on transfer of 10 churches to AAC. In return, Georgia will receive
7 churches in Lori and Tavush.
The situation is still tense. However, no exchange of churches is
expected, V. Melikyan said.