GREEK MASS MEDIA CONDEMN JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

YEREVAN, MARCH 3. ARMINFO. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has
heard with great concern about the false allegations published by the
media in Greece regarding the Holy Fire ceremony, which takes place
each year on the Saturday before Easter in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, according to which: “the Armenians are demanding that they
light the Holy Fire, and it must be noted that the issue has reached
all the way to the Israeli Knesset.

ARMINFO was informed in the JPA, as it is known, this request of the
Armenians is persistent, and many times, during the entrance and exit
of the Greek patriarch, there have occurred serious incidents.” The
position of the Armenian Patriarchate has always been to uphold the
peaceful and centuries-old traditional ceremony of the Holy Fire, in
compliance with the Agreement on the Status Quo in the Holy Places,
according to which: “The Bishop of the Armenian Church, who is to
accompany the Greek

Patriarch into the Sepulchre, here joins His Beatitude. The Patriarch
now disrobes, and his mitre and vestments are carried by the attendant
clergy to the Altar in the Orthodox Chapel.

The door of the Edicule is then opened and the Patriarch enters the
Tomb, accompanied by the Armenian Bishop.” Unfortunately, since his
accession to the throne in 2001, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ireneios
I has maintained that the Greeks hold the exclusive right to light the
Holy Fire from the Holy Tomb, subsequently passing it to the
Armenians. Contrary to this assertion, firmans, hujjats, and other
historical and legal documents all state that the Armenian Bishop and
the Greek Patriarch should together light the Holy Fire from the Tomb
of our Lord.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has and will continue to reject
the attempts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem to deny the
right of equal participation by the Armenian Patriarch in the lighting
of the Holy Fire.