‘WE CHOOSE PEACE’ – ARMENIAN SPIRITUAL LEADER
news.az
April 28 2010
Azerbaijan
Garegin II Armenian Church leader Catholicos Garegin II has shared
with Azerbaijani TV channel ANS his impressions of his visit to Baku.
The Catholicos was in the Azerbaijani capital to attend the summit of
world religious leaders on 26-27 April. He was received by President
Ilham Aliyev and visited the Armenian church in central Baku,
accompanied by Russian Patriarch Kirill and the head of the Caucasus
Muslims Department, Sheikh ul-Islam Haji Allashukur Pashazade.
‘We visited the Armenian church. We have been unable to hold services
in this church for a short time in 70 years,’ the Catholicos told ANS.
‘We were upset to see that fire has badly damaged the frescoes. We
also saw that there were no graves for our church servants. The church
has been turned into a library. This is the way it has been preserved.
We hope and pray that the time will come when the church will function
fully. Our faithful will be able to pray and make pilgrimages there."
Asked how religious leaders could influence resolution of the
Karabakh conflict, Garegin ll said: ‘I have come here with my brother,
Patriarch Kirill, and the greatly respected Allahshukur Pashazade on
an important mission. By this joint visit we want to call our peoples
to peace. There is no other solution to the Karabakh conflict.
‘We choose peace, because we should not forget that war is a crime
against humankind and great cruelty before God. We, as religious
people, must adhere to the rules established by God. May he help us
in the Karabakh conflict.’
Asked whether Armenians and Azerbaijanis could live side by side after
resolution of the conflict, Garegin said: ‘May God grant everyone
the happiness of living independently and freely. We are sure that
there are no people who would not enjoy this right. This means that
peaceful relations must be built with neighbouring countries. I
am sure that an independent and free life of Nagorno-Karabakh will
further strengthen friendly relations between our countries. We must
listen to the voice of the people and we cannot make anyone do what
they do not want to do.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress