FENCE IS BEING BUILT AROUND ST. NORASHEN CHURCH OF TBILISI
Lragir
13:32:35 – 23/10/2008
The press office of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia issued a release
today, voicing indignation on behalf of 400 thousand Armenians in
Georgia about the encroachment of the Georgian Orthodox Church against
the Armenian St. Norashen Church (15 c.) in Tbilisi.
The release holds that in the May of this year Reverend Tariel
Sikinchelashvili, a priest of the Georgian Orthodox Church,
initiated the construction of a metal fence around the church,
involving religious elements typical of the Georgian Orthodox
church. The Armenian Diocese of Georgia has voiced concern and
indignation about the recurrent attempt at planned invasion of the
another Armenian church, and described it as breach of the agreement
with the Georgian party for a civilized settlement of the problem
of returning St. Norashen and the other four Armenian churches of
Tbilisi – St. Nshan, St. Red Testament, St. Minas, St. Gevorg –
to the Armenian Diocese of Georgia.
The Diocese has sent letters to the relevant government agencies of
Georgia, as well as the foreign legations in Georgia. The believers
of the Diocese viewed this action as violation of the Constitutional
rights for freedom of religion and equal religious rights.
The city hall of Tbilisi and the Patriarchate decided to demolish
the illegally built fence but did not bring the decision into
being, explaining that Father Tariel hinders them. Meanwhile, the
Georgian priest continues the construction of the fence around
St. Norashen. Even though the problem of return of churches is
mentioned in the annual report of the U.S. State Department and
the UN Human Rights Committee, the government of Georgia fails to
display political will to solve the issues of the Armenian citizens
of their country. The press release alarms about religious and ethnic
discrimination in Georgia.
The Armenian Diocese of Georgia calls upon the relevant government
agencies of Georgia to solve this problem, as well as the problem of
the legal status of the Traditional Religious Organizations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress