Author: Samvel Nahapetian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 21-01-21 | ARMENPRESS Armenian News Agency

Samvel Nahapetian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 21-01-21

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 17:37,

YEREVAN, 21 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 21 January, USD exchange rate down by 0.30 drams to 518.89 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.41 drams to 629.98 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.03 drams to 7.05 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.46 drams to 712.54 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 347.66 drams to 30973.1 drams. Silver price down by 0.24 drams to 421.99 drams. Platinum price up by 239.72 drams to 18451.07 drams.

Iranian FM to visit Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia next week

Samvel Nahapetian

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 18:18,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif plans to visit Yerevan, Moscow, Baku and Tbilisi next week, ARMENPRESS reports mehrnews website informed.

''I plan to pay a visit to Caucasus and Russia’', Zarif said, adding that he holds negotiations also with Turkey.

''Yesterday evening I had a productive phone conversation with Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu. I plan to visit the countries that are able to work together to help overcome Karabakh crisis and establish peace and stability in the region'', he said.

Agreements between Moscow, Baku and Yerevan mitigate escalation risks in Karabakh – expert

Samvel Nahapetian
TASS, Russia

Jan 11 2021
 
 
 
Andrei Kortunov noted that although today’s agreements could not resolve other problems of the region, such as the one of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, which is "hanging in the air," the sides were moving in the right direction 
 
 
MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Agreements on new infrastructure projects in Nagorno-Karabakh that were reached on Monday by the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, will mitigate escalation risks in the region, a Russian expert told TASS on Monday.
 
"Any agreement, the more so the one in such an important sector as transport, seriously reduces risks of future escalation but gives no guarantees for a stable political settlement," said Andrei Kortunov, director general of the Russian Council on International Affairs, a thinktank. "In such situations, any economic and infrastructure agreements take on a political nature. If it is about transport corridors, it means security and some sort of cooperation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani ethnic groups."
 
The expert noted that although today’s agreements could not resolve other problems of the region, such as the one of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, which is "hanging in the air," the sides were moving in the right direction. "Even the limited agreements that have been reached make it possible to say that the meeting was successful. Transport was chosen as a neutral, technical aspect of relations. With the first step made, the second and thirds steps are to follow. So, the opening of transport communications should be followed by issues of the exchange of prisoners, return of refugees, and co-living of two ethnic groups," he said.
 
Turkey’s non-participation
 
According to Kortunov, Turkey’s non-participation in the Moscow dialogue is quite demonstrative. "It means that Turkey is an important neighbor that cannot be absolutely excluded from what is currently going on in the South Caucasus but the Russian leadership has once again demonstrated that the key role in this settlement and post-settlement steps will be played by Moscow," he said, adding that it would be logical to involve the Turkish side in the discussion of infrastructure matters but Armenia is unlikely to accept such a format.
 
Pashinyan’s future
 
The expert noted that Pashinyan’s positions as the prime minister had somewhat consolidated but his political future was "quite vague."
 
"If we compare today’ situation with the situation when he was nearly ousted by the protesters in Yerevan, his positions have somewhat stabilized. Society has calmed down after a burst of emotions because of the failed war. Obviously, Pashinyan is now trying to make a maximum use of the international possibilities he has," Kortunov went on to say. "It is not about Russia only. It’s only natural that he has raised the issue of invigorating the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts. He has hopes for participation of other co-chairs."
 
He noted that Armenian elites continued pressure on the prime minister and his future would depend on his ability to ensure socio-economic results, "keep Armenia’s presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, and make Baku begin the discussion of the region’s status."
 
About Moscow’s talks
 
Trilateral talks between the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh were held on Monday in Moscow on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks yielded a joint statement on new infrastructure projects in Nagorno-Karabakh. A special trilateral working group will be set up to be in charge of such projects. The group will be co-chaired by the three countries’ deputy prime ministers. Putin and Aliyev noted that the November 9, 2020 joint statement on cessation of hostilities was generally observed. Pashinyan agreed that the sides had managed to ensure the ceasefire. The Azerbaijani leader hailed the efforts of the Russian peacekeeping mission.
 

Armenian Ombudsman alarms on multiple unresolved issues at road sections controlled by Azerbaijan

Samvel Nahapetian

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 13:00, 12 January, 2021

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan alarms that several problems regarding roads that have come under Azerbaijani control remain unresolved.

“Different parts of the road are under Azerbaijani control and Azerbaijani flags and signs are installed there. Moreover, 21 kilometers of the 68 kilometer section of the Goris-Vorotan-Shurnukh-Kapan road is under Azerbaijani control. The Azerbaijani soldiers are installing the road signs with explicit provocation. In addition, as residents reported, [Azerbaijani soldiers] may appear on the road with weapons. They may stop on the road and conduct observations. These are roads which link our peaceful settlements with one another. This issue emerged because of using a mechanical approach in demarcation,” Tatoyan said at a news briefing.

He said that Armenian citizens are advised to travel via these roads quickly and without stops, otherwise the Azerbaijani side will consider it a provocation.

Tatoyan pointed out numerous problems that would arise in the event of hypothetical incidents which could happen on these parts of the road, for example traffic accidents.

“If, for example, a traffic accident were to happen between not only Armenian motorists but for example an Armenian motorist and an Azerbaijani motorist. What would happen if a car broke down in those parts of the road and the driver must stop and fix it? What would happen if traffic violations, crimes or other things were to happen in those parts? If we find this to be Azerbaijani territory, what does that mean? Does it mean that the Azeri investigative body must carry out investigative actions against an Armenian citizen? These issues aren’t regulated at all,” he said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Nagorno-Karabakh: Putin hosts talks between Azerbaijan, Armenia leaders

Samvel Nahapetian
France 24
Jan 12 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday brought together the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for the first time since a war last year over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in an effort to resolve problems that risk undermining the deal that ended the conflict.
 
 
A Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement in November halted the six-week conflict between Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces, locking in territorial gains for Azerbaijan.
 
But tensions persist, with low-level sporadic violence, prisoners of war still held by both sides, and ambiguity about how a prospective transport corridor through the region will work.
 
Putin said the ceasefire deal, which saw Moscow deploy peacekeepers, was being implemented without serious incident and the talks had been useful.
 
"We were able to agree and sign a joint declaration on developing the region," he said. "I'm talking about concrete steps to build economic links and to develop (transport) infrastructure projects."
 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said it had not been possible to broker an exchange of remaining prisoners however.
 
But he, and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, indicated progress in other areas, with both talking positively about economic and infrastructure prospects.
 
Aliyev said his country would have a rail link for the first time in over three decades with Nakhchivan, an Azeri exclave that borders Turkey and Iran, and that landlocked Armenia, via Azeri territory, would get rail links with Russia and Iran.
 
The atmosphere at the talks was frosty. Pashinyan and Aliyev did not shake hands, only exchanging curt greetings when they sat down in the Kremlin opposite Putin.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but ethnic Armenians and Azeris both regard it as part of their historic homelands and fought a much bigger war in the 1990s that left tens of thousands dead.
 
For Russia, the latest conflict highlighted the rising influence of close Azeri ally Turkey in the South Caucasus, an area Moscow traditionally sees as its own sphere of influence.
 
But by brokering the deal and getting Russian peacekeepers on the ground, Putin has thwarted a stronger Turkish presence for now while expanding Moscow's own military footprint.
 
(REUTERS)
 

CivilNet: Baku Pogroms in the Context of the Karabakh Conflict

Samvel Nahapetian
CIVILNET.AM

14 January, 2021 07:33

By Emil Sanamyan

Episodes of mass violence, such as the Armenian pogroms in Baku in January 1990 and subsequent introduction of Soviet forces resulting in additional loss of life, are often viewed as events in themselves. From the Armenian perspective, the Baku pogroms were just another manifestation of anti-Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan, from Azerbaijani – it is often described as a conspiracy to quash local nationalist aspirations.

Putting these events in the context of the developing logic of the Karabakh conflict and growing crisis throughout the Soviet Union helps explain the events’ timing and some of the motives involved.

Thus, the initial appeals from Nagorno Karabakh Autonomy for its reassignment from Azerbaijan to Armenia were immediately followed by a violent reaction against Armenians in Karabakh, Sumgait and elsewhere. Following the violence of 1988, 1989 was a mostly peaceful year with relatively few conflict-related deaths reported. But conflict began to heat up again, after Karabakh Armenian leaders refused Kremlin’s offers to drop demands for unification with Armenia in exchange for upgrading NKAO’s status to an autonomous republic within then still Soviet Azerbaijan.

Most significantly, 1988 saw a massive population exchange between the two republics triggered by violent attacks that slowed down but continued in 1989. This made continued existence of an Armenian autonomy, whether an oblast’ or a republic, within Azerbaijan increasingly unrealistic. Since prior to the conflict there were more Armenians in Azerbaijan than Azerbaijanis in Armenia, by the end of 1989 the flight of Azerbaijanis was nearly complete (one exception was the Nuvadi area near Meghri), whereas an estimated several tens of thousands of Armenians still remained in Baku and in villages to the immediate north of NKAO that, counting on Armenia’s support, prepared for self-defense.

On November 28, 1989, the Soviet government cancelled the direct administration in Nagorno Karabakh in effect since January 1989, returning the Oblast under Azerbaijan’s administration. In response, on December 1, 1989 the Supreme Council (Parliament) of Armenia issued a union declaration with NKAO.

The Soviet Azerbaijani leadership prepared for a crackdown in and around Nagorno Karabakh. In December 1989, the number of Soviet security forces in the area were increasing from nine to fifteen thousand further backed by the regular army units. On January 9, 1990 Karabakh Armenian activists rallied to stop Soviet Azerbaijani leader Abdurrahman Vezirov accompanied by Moscow officials from arriving in Stepanakert. Resulting clashes with Soviet security forces left three activists dead.

At the same time, armed volunteers began to arrive in Karabakh from Armenia, particularly to the village of Getashen in Khanlar district, north of NKAO. In parallel, Armenian militias from Yerevan attacked an Azerbaijani enclave of Kerki, which sat on Armenia’s main highway just north of Nakhichevan, and after a week-long siege expelled its population.

Starting on January 11, Azerbaijani militias associated with the Azerbaijani Popular Front attacked Armenian villages in Khanlar and Shaumyan districts, seeking to force their residents to flee to Armenia. The shooting in the area continued for days with some seven Azerbaijani attackers reportedly killed.

As in February 1988, when after the failure of the initial Azerbaijani show of force in Karabakh, the violence was redirected towards Armenians in Sumgait, this time the perceived setback in Karabakh was quickly followed by attacks on remaining Armenians in Baku, where Popular Front demanded that Azerbaijani refugees should be housed in “abandoned” Armenian homes. In the following days, more than 90 Armenians were killed in Baku in mob attacks. Others were protected by their Azerbaijani friends and neighbors, only to be evacuated by the Soviet military.

As pogroms escalated, on January 14 Kremlin officials led by Yevgeni Primakov were dispatched to Baku. Soviet Azerbaijani leaders refused to introduce emergency rule, even as such rule was introduced in NKAO, where violence was on the lesser scale. On January 16, Soviet defense and interior ministers arrived in Getashen and pledged to protect the Armenians in the area (they kept their pledge until the spring of 1991, when these villages were ethnically cleansed with the help of the Soviet forces).

As violence in Baku continued to spread, on the night of January 19-20 Soviet military was ordered into the city over objections from Vezirov, who was effectively removed. As Popular Front activists attempted to stop them, more than 100 Azerbaijani civilians and activists died in the clashes.

Baku pogroms thus became part of the Azerbaijani nationalist backlash to Armenia’s union declaration with Karabakh and the Armenian resistance in Karabakh. Three decades on, no official investigation into the pogroms has been conducted and no one was held responsible.

This piece was originally published in Focus on Karabakh. 

Artsakh status remains most important principle for resolution – FM responds to OSCE MG’s Popov

Samvel Nahapetian

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 17:19,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. The status of Artsakh remains the most important principle of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said in an interview with reporters, addressing OSCE Minsk Group’s Russian Co-Chair Igor Popov’s recent statement.

“I got acquainted with Mr. Popov’s interview and I have to mention that at a time Armenia had given consent to the Kazan Document because it contained a full package of the fundamental principles of the conflict resolution. Even after Azerbaijan’s rejection of this document the negotiations continued based on the fundamental principles. Even during the war, Azerbaijan had given consent to continue the negotiations around the fundamental principles. I definitely agree with Mr. Popov that the status of Artsakh has been the most important principle of the conflict resolution, I can add – it has been and still is,” Aivazian said.

Aivazian noted that the 2020 November 9 statement is not a document of resolution. “It is an armistice, a document on ending the war, which includes some of the fundamental principles, but the conflict can’t be resolved because all fundamental principles haven’t been implemented, particularly the self-determination and status issue,” he said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian philharmonic orchestra announces start of Babajanian Year on composer’s birthday

Samvel Nahapetian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 13 2021
 
 
The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, together with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports announces the start of Babajanian Year on January 22 marking the renowned composer’s birthday anniversary.
 
The first concert of the year is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Arno Babajanian. The concert will take place within the framework of the philharmonic orchestra’s chamber music concert series.
 
Anush Nikoghosyan (violin), Sevak Avanesyan (cello) and Hayk Melikyan (piano) are set to perform during the concert.
 
The program features Six Pictures for Piano (1965), Sonata for Violin and Piano (1959) and Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (1952).
 

Pandemic restrictions a business boon for some Iraqi women

Samvel Nahapetian
LMT Online
Jan 12 2021
By ABDULRAHMAN ZEYAD, Associated Press | on
BAGHDAD (AP) — Fatima Ali was in her final year studying to become a medical analysis specialist when Iraq imposed a full lockdown in March. Forced by a raging pandemic to stay home, she spent her days on social media, looking for something to do with her time.
 
Then an idea came to her: Six years ago, visiting America on a young leaders exchange program, she and other students toured a Vermont cheese factory where aged cheese platters were displayed on wooden boards so inviting they looked like paintings.
“I liked it … I said to myself, why not be the first to do it in Baghdad?” She took a free online business course and researched cheeses and wooden plates available in the Iraqi capital.
 
Months later, 22-year-old Ali is successfully marketing her cheese boards, making a small but steady income and garnering over 2,000 Instagram followers.
 
A growing number of Iraqi women are using pandemic restrictions to establish home-based businesses. It's a way to bypass discrimination and harassment that often come with working in Iraq's male-dominated, conservative society — and bring in extra income as the economy worsens.
 
On a recent day in her kitchen, Ali cut up and arranged cheeses, dried fruit and nuts as she talked about her further dreams. She wants to go to culinary school abroad and one day open a school in Iraq for those "who have passion for cooking, like me.”
“This is just the beginning. I’m still developing myself,” she said. The slogan on her purple T-shirt declared, “You Have to Love Yourself.”
 
Rawan Al-Zubaidi, a business partner at an Iraqi NGO that supports start-ups and young entrepreneurs, said there’s been a noticeable increase in home-based businesses since the pandemic's start, including women making food deliveries, sweets, accessories, crocheting and embroidering.
 
“It represents a solution to obstacles that Iraqi women face when trying to find a job,” she said, citing women whose husbands or fathers won’t let them work, unsupportive male colleagues, discrimination and lack of career growth opportunities.
 
“Some Iraqi women can’t find a job because conservative families or husbands consider that women talking directly with other men on the job will bring shame on them,” Rawan said.
 
Women’s labor force participation in Iraq is particularly low. As of 2018, only 12.3% of women of working age were employed or looking for work, according to the United Nations.
 
Tamara Amir, who manages a Facebook page to educate Iraqi women about their rights, said she receives dozens of calls each day from women facing sexual harassment at work. Often, they report feeling they have to give their male boss “something in return” to get a job or advancement.
Ali’s parents have been supportive of her home-based business, which she says is more secure and means she does not have to go outside and mix with people. Her mother helps her prepare her products, and Ali teamed up with a popular delivery app.
 
At first, she received two orders a week maximum. Now she can barely keep up with the multiple orders she gets every day.
 
Mariam Khzarjian, a 31-year-old Iraqi-Armenian, worked as an executive assistant in an engineering company for seven years. She quit in late 2018, feeling her career was going nowhere, and started her own home business selling handmade accessories inspired by her ancestors, who used to work as carpenters.
 
She called her business Khzar — Armenian for the art of cutting metals and woods — with the slogan “wear a story,” since Khzar designs are based on telling stories and building emotional communication with the clients.
 
She got off to a slow start. Distractions got in the way. But the pandemic forced her to focus, working on new designs and techniques during curfews. The move toward online shopping helped her business take off in a way she could not have imagined.
 
“Online became the only way to reach clients, and they in turn became more loyal and more confident about my art, because they are buying something without trying it,” Khzarjian said.
 
“Corona is terrible, but for those able to take advantage of the internet and build connections with customers, it had its positive side,” she said.
 
Sara al-Nedawi, 23, studied business administration and has tried to find a job for months.
 
“One day I sent my CV to a company, and they texted me to ask if I was pretty and whether I wear the hijab or not,” she said, referring to the headscarf worn by some Muslim women. Someone from another company she applied to called her to get more information, then told her she has a lovely voice and asked for a photo.
 
Now she is trying to start a home-based food-catering business but lacks the capital.
 
“I need to work first to collect enough money,” she said.

‘This is our mission’: Catholic archbishop brings aid to suffering Armenians

Samvel Nahapetian
Herald Malaysia
Jan 8 2021
Fr. Raphael has served as the bishop of Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe since 2011. He is responsible for an estimated 618,000 Armenian Rite Catholics in countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and, of course, Armenia itself.

YEREVAN: Archbishop Raphael Minassian is a man of action who has little time for the formalities of ecclesiastical life. 

Speaking from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Jan. 5, he said that he felt uncomfortable being addressed as “Your Excellency.”

“I leave everything to divine providence because I’m a very simple clergy working for the Church,” he explained. “‘Excellency,’ etc., are for other people, not for me. I am Fr. Raphael.”

Fr. Raphael has served as the bishop of Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe since 2011. He is responsible for an estimated 618,000 Armenian Rite Catholics in countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and, of course, Armenia itself. 

He said that as Armenia enters 2021 it is facing multiple crises that are driving many of its three million people into poverty.

He said: “Ex-Soviet countries, in general, are still unable to be self-sufficient. That’s why the poor class of society is high. There is no system that could help them to be comfortable in their daily life. Plus, we have the coronavirus. Plus we had the war.”

Fr. Raphael was referring to the recent conflict between Armenia and its neighbor Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area lies within Azerbaijan but is home to ethnic Armenians who refer to the territory as Artsakh. 

The war raged from Sept. 27 to Nov. 10 at the cost of more than 6,000 soldiers’ lives. Ten of thousands of civilians fled to Yerevan, where they found refuge in schools, hotels, and private homes. 

“The whole situation is very complicated, very confusing for the people who emigrated from their country,” said Fr. Raphael. “They have to find an apartment to live, and also work and to feed their family members.” 

As president of Caritas Armenia, the 74-year-old archbishop is leading the Catholic outreach to the country’s most desperate people.

“This is our mission as a Catholic Church, without putting in any difference between the people. We are looking only for the person in need,” he said.

It’s an important point because Catholics are a tiny minority in Armenia, numbering around 160,000.

Most citizens belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the six ancient Oriental Orthodox Churches and Armenia’s national church.

Fr. Raphael emphasized that Caritas Armenia cares for orphans, refugees, and ill people with the help of benefactors from around the world. 

He noted that the group For the Martyrs, led by Gia Chacón, recently visited the country to deliver gifts to displaced children as part of its Operation Christmas for Armenia initiative.

He said that Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), as well as Aid to the Church in Need, were also making significant contributions.

But besides these organizations which have a long-term commitment to the country, the archbishop said there were others that would not remain in Armenia for long.

“At this moment, to tell you the truth, there are so many people coming from all over the world to help. They want to give it [aid] and then, after a few months, they want to leave. But the poor will remain poor,” he said.

He urged potential U.S. donors to support the work of CRS and the USCCB in Armenia.  

“Through them, we can take care of the people with certain projects that could be very useful for them. Because I am not from that character to feed the people and then the second day they are still hungry,” he said.

“What I’m trying to do is to find certain ways of helping the people to become self-sufficient.”

Fr. Raphael said he hoped that those who achieved self-sufficiency would in turn support those who are less privileged, creating a virtuous cycle.

He added that Armenians were often reluctant to receive aid because they have a proud tradition of supporting themselves through entrepreneurship amid the upheavals of Armenian history.

Fr. Raphael was born to an Armenian family in Lebanon on Oct. 24, 1946. He was ordained in 1973 in Beirut as a priest of the Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar, an Armenian Catholic religious congregation of priests founded in 1750.

From 1990 to 2006, he served as a pastor in California, where he helped to create a foundation supporting humanitarian projects in Armenia. He also initiated the construction of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale.

In 2005, he was appointed leader of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem and Amman. His dynamism was evident there too. In 2009, he established perpetual Eucharistic adoration at the church marking the Fourth Station of the Way of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. 

When Fr. Raphael was appointed to his present role as bishop of Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe nine years ago, he decided to prioritize the Catholic Church’s social and spiritual mission.

“As a Catholic Church, we are trying always to not get involved in the politics. Our assistance is more social and spiritual,” he said, stressing that Catholics showed the utmost respect for members of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

“There is no difference in the proclamation of the faith between the Armenian Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. They have the same creed. They have the same liturgy. They have the same prayer.”

He added that, while some clergy emphasized the differences between the two communions, “we don’t have any difficulty or any problematic situation working with everybody and assisting everybody.” 

Meanwhile, Armenia faces an unsettled future. The country has a special place in Church history as it was the first to embrace Christianity as its state religion. But in the 21st century, Armenia appears isolated and vulnerable. 

On a map, the country looks like a small jigsaw piece inserted between the larger pieces of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. Only one of its four neighboring countries — Georgia – is majority Christian. Religious differences were a factor in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“You have to take into consideration that we are surrounded by non-Christian countries. So practically we don’t have any window to run from it outside,” Fr. Raphael said.

“So that also is a very hard situation for people who don’t have any direct connection with the world.”

Fr. Raphael explained that he had spent the past nine years seeking to build up Caritas Armenia because he wanted the organization to continue to help the people long after he is gone.

“As you know, the Catholic charity is the tool of the Church, in the social teaching and in the social life. So practically I concentrated everything in the Caritas,” he said.

“Do not let them be attached to the priest, because today I’m here, tomorrow I am going to die. But an organization, that will never die.”––CNA