"INEQUALITIES OF LIFE SHOULD NOT BE TRANSFERRED TO CEMETERIES" SPIRITUAL FATHER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
May 18 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. "Only after adoption of the RA Law on
Standard Cemeteries it will be possible to end the vicious practice
of "transferring the inequalities of life to cemeteries". Priest
Hakob Khachatrian from Surb Sarkis Church of the Ararat patriarchal
diocese said this at the May 18 debate. In his words, the culture
of burial has been distorted in the Armenian reality today. "It is
directly related to the notion of death and the other world, which
those performing a burial have," he noted. According to the priest,
the Armenian Apostolic Church is against cremation.

In the opinion of another participant of the debate – ethnographer
Karl Seghbosian, it is impossible to create standard cemeteries
because no one may forbid, for example, to place a khachkar in a
cemetery. "Some restrictions should just be introduced, we need to
combat bad practices, and the role of the church is great in this
issue," he said.

Speaking about conflicting opinions on cremation, K. Seghbosian
expressed confidence that cremation is necessary – "of course, in
accordance with the wish of relatives of the dead person." Otherwise,
according to him, the whole districts will be turned into cemeteries.