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Jerusalem Patriarchate: on the Holy Fire Ceremony

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  • Jerusalem Patriarchate: on the Holy Fire Ceremony

    ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM
    P.O.Box 14235, Jerusalem, Israel 91141
    Office of Ecumenical and Foreign Relations
    Contact person: Bishop Aris Shirvanian
    Tel: 972-2-628-2331
    Fax: 972-2-626-4861
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: www.armenian-patriarchate.org


    COMMUNIQUÉ

    The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has heard with great concern
    about the false allegations published by the media in Greece regarding
    the Holy Fire ceremony, which takes place each year on the Saturday
    before Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to which:
    "the Armenians are demanding that they light the Holy Fire, and it
    must be noted that the issue has reached all the way to the Israeli
    Knesset. As it is known, this request of the Armenians is persistent,
    and many times, during the entrance and exit of the Greek patriarch,
    there have occurred serious incidents."

    The position of the Armenian Patriarchate has always been to uphold
    the peaceful and centuries-old traditional ceremony of the Holy Fire,
    in compliance with the Agreement on the Status Quo in the Holy Places,
    according to which: "The Bishop of the Armenian Church, who is to
    accompany the [Greek] Patriarch into the Sepulchre, here joins His
    Beatitude. The Patriarch now disrobes, and his mitre and vestments
    are carried by the attendant clergy to the Altar in the Orthodox
    Chapel. The door [of the Edicule] is then opened and the Patriarch
    enters the Tomb, accompanied by the Armenian Bishop."

    Unfortunately, since his accession to the throne in 2001, the Greek
    Orthodox Patriarch Ireneios I has maintained that the Greeks hold the
    exclusive right to light the Holy Fire from the Holy Tomb,
    subsequently passing it to the Armenians. Contrary to this assertion,
    firmans, hujjats, and other historical and legal documents all state
    that the Armenian Bishop and the Greek Patriarch should together light
    the Holy Fire from the Tomb of our Lord.

    The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has and will continue to reject
    the attempts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem to deny the
    right of equal participation by the Armenian Patriarch in the lighting
    of the Holy Fire.

    #####

    Jerusalem, 2 March 2005 DIVAN OF THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE
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