AAC DOESN’T HAVE STATUS IN GEORGIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.12.2008 14:38 GMT+04:00

Armenian Church doesn’t have any status in Georgia. The other
religious minorities experience the same problem, the head of the
Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenian said.

"We were offered a status of a non-governmental organization but
we rejected. We urge the Georgian authorities either to pass a law
on religion or conclude an agreement with the religious minorities,
recognizing them as artificial persons," bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan
said.

At the same time, he remarked that the intelligentsia and clergy should
not involve the flock in the problem of return of churches. "This
problem should be resolved at the highest level and religious fanatics
should not instigate national hostility. Georgians should understand
that Armenians are not crazy to lay claims to a Georgian Church in
Tbilisi," he said.

The Georgian Patriarchate doesn’t comment on the issue. "It’s well
known that Georgian and Armenian churches differ on belonging of
the historical religious monument, what Armenians call Norashen. A
commission consisting of professional experts will be formed to deal
with the issue," says the statement published by the Patriarchate on
December 8.