Crematory Refusable For Armenian Apostolic Church – Priest

CREMATORY IS REFUSABLE FOR ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH, PRIEST TER HAKOB
KHACHATRIAN STATES

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. Crematory is refusable for the Armenian
Apostolic Church, this is inadmissible from the viewpoint of national
traditional thinking and moral and psychology. Priest Ter Hakob
Khachatrian, spiritual serviceman of the Surb Sargis Church stated
about this at the March 7 discussion organized in the “Hayeli”
club. According to him, crematory is impossible for an Armenian’s
thinking and Armenia usually don’t make use of this service in those
countries where it’s a normal event. According to the priest, it’s a
law defined by the God: “you’re land and will become land.”

To recap, the article concerning the crematory is fixed in the
Febraury 27 law “On Organizing Burials and Usage of Graveyards and
Crematoria” adopted by the RA National Assembly.

NA Deputy Vladimir Badalian, the author of the law, mentioned that the
city of Yerevan is surrounded by graveyards which occupy the 7-8% of
the territory of the capital. And, according to rough calculations,
those territories will make the 30-40% in 2050 in the case of keeping
the present order of burials.

Reasoning the necessity of using crematory, V.Badalian mentioned that
crematory is justified in sanitary-epidemic, ecological and other
senses. Besides, according to the law, crematory may be implemented
only “with the written expression of the will of the man died or those
undretaken the burial.” The Deputy also mentioned that crematories
will start to operate in Armenia from 2008.

Responding the law author’s reasonings, priest Ter Hakob Khachatrian
expressed confidence that the lands may be kept by implementing burial
on another grave what is allowed by the same law. Besides, according
to him, it may be prohibited to build capital constructions on
graves. “In this case, on the one hand, our lands will be kept and on
the other hand, our national and Christian picture won’t be
distorted,” priest Ter Hakob Khachatrian mentioned.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress