RENOVATION OR DESTRUCTION?: CONFLICTING REPORTS ON AN ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GEORGIA
Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow reporter
28.04.10 | 11:45

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Conflicting reports have been made lately in Armenia about the fate
of a seventh-century Armenian Catholic church in Akhaltsikhe, in the
Armenian-populated province of Georgia.

While the Armenian Catholic Church and nongovernmental organizations
raising the issue of the church say that yet another Armenian church
is being destroyed in Georgia, the Georgian-Armenian Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church insists that "small khachkars (cross stones)
and Armenian inscriptions have been moved for the needs of research
being conducted ahead of repairs."

Enlarge Photo

The Mitq Analytical Center last week disseminated information about
Sourb Khach (Holy Cross) Church, saying in a statement that Georgian
religious leadership and state bodies responsible for the preservation
of monuments are planning to knock down the church in Akhaltsikhe (or
Akhaltskha, the administrative center of Georgia’s Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti province) and build a Georgian Catholic church in
its place.

The center quoted Armenian priest in Akhaltsikhe Ter Manouk Zeinalian
as testifying to the ongoing destruction of the church. According to
the release of the center, Father Zeinalian said: "One of the altars
has been destroyed and four stones with Armenian inscriptions have
been unearthed from underneath. One of the stones has disappeared. One
of the arches has been destroyed too. Armenians of Akhaltsikhe are
demanding that the process be halted. It’s an Armenian church and
belongs to Armenians."

Monuments expert in Armenia Samvel Karapetyan also says that in
the first half of the 19th century the church originally built as
an apostolic house of worship, was passed to the Armenian Catholic
community. According to him, the Armenian traces are all over that
church – khachkars, a medieval cemetery with Armenian inscriptions
in the surroundings of the church, etc.

Karapetyan says that according to the information he has, cleaning
work is still in progress in the church, because of which khachkars
set in the church walls have already been taken out.

"This is another victim, another church ‘under restoration’ in
Akhaltsikhe," says Karapetyan. He adds that there are no khachkars
or Armenian inscriptions left in any of the churches that have been
re-appropriated in Georgia and that there is nothing that could remind
of the rightful owner.

The Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, meanwhile,
told ArmeniaNow that a few months ago the church was transferred
to the Roman Catholic Church, which also pledged to renovate the
non-functioning church.

"Certain khachkars have been shifted for research purposes, but they
are to be placed back to where they were. The Catholic Church of
Georgia assures us that no inscription or khachkar will be damaged as
a result of the repairs," said a representative the Armenian Apostolic
Church’s Georgian Diocese, adding that some local Armenian youths
who witnessed specialists work on the site erroneously thought that
the church was being knocked down, while in actual fact it is not so.

Despite these assurances, spiritual leader of the Armenian Catholic
Church in Yerevan Fr. Petros Yesayan is perplexed at how an Armenian
catholic church could be handed over to the Roman Catholic Church if
it already belonged to the latter.

"The Georgians are destroying the church. They will erase whatever
is Armenian," says Fr. Petros.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry also has information only about cleaning
work being carried out at the church in Georgia.

"We don’t have information about khachkars being taken out of the
walls. At least we’ve got assurances from the Georgian embassy that
the church will not be damaged," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran
Balayan told ArmeniaNow.