PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Studies Program
Ms. Gloria Caudill, Administrator
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Tel: (734) 763-0622
Email: [email protected]
DR. H. TCHILINGIRIAN DISCUSSES CHURCH-STATE RELATION IN ARMENIA AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
In a lecture sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, on November 17, Dr. Hratch
Tchilingirian of London discussed key issues and processes in the last
16 years affecting the Armenian Church’s relations with the state,
society and the Diaspora.
Against the background of the Armenian Church during Soviet and
perestroika periods, he focused on the problems and complexities of
transition from official atheism to freedom of religion in independent
Armenia.
Dr. Tchilingirian argued that independence had brought many positive
developments in the Armenian Church and generally in terms of freedom
of religion and faith in Armenia. However, the Church, the State and
society face many challenges: from religious tolerance and pluralism
to fairness and full guarantees of rights, to addressing social and
moral issues in a still evolving post Soviet country. The effects of
State-sponsored atheism in Soviet Armenia on the one hand, and the
impact of secularization and globalization on the other hand have had
crucial consequences on religiosity in general and on church practice
in particular. However, these far-reaching processes were never
seriously studied or addressed by the Church hierarchy. Tchilingirian
underlined that "the Church hierarchy can no longer simply pontificate
about complex problems of society without real engagement in the life
of the people". The critical question that the Church leadership
needs to address is "What is the relevance of a 1700 year-old Church
and religious faith to contemporary Armenians living in Armenia and
outside, all around the world?"
Hratch Tchilingirian is Associate Director of Eurasia Program at
Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, where he teaches on
multi-cultural issues in business leadership and management. He
received his PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics.
Dr. Tchilingirian has written and lectured extensively on sociological
and geopolitical developments in the wider Eurasia region, especially
the Caucasus, the Armenian Church and the Diaspora.
During his visit to the University of Michigan campus,
Dr. Tchilingirian also participated in a special workshop on
"Minorities in the Middle East" organized by the University’s Center
for Middle Eastern and North African Studies with a paper on Armenian
communities in the Middle East. That workshop was co-sponsored by the
Armenian Studies Program and other units of the University.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
