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ARMENIAN CHURCH UPSET WITH GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT'S ACTIONS ON RELIGION LAW
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
The Messenger
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/2398_july_14_2011/2398_gvanca.html
Georgia
July 14 2011
The law regarding the religious faiths adopted lately by the Parliament
and especially the explanation note of the law has disappointed the
Armenian Church - founder of the Armenian community in Georgia Arnold
Stepanian told The Messenger, on July 13.
"The new amendments leave the registration right to the religious
organizations but deprive them of the wider rights. The law and
especially its explanation note directly says that on any religious
issue we will have to talk with the Georgian church and not with
any other institution. The consensus eased inner tension between
the government and orthodox church, but brought serious damage
to the Armenian church, that will not be able to apply to return
Armenian churches, while we had certain hopes in this direction",
Stepanian says.
Stepanian also explained the reason why their connection with the
Georgian Government would have been easier, "it is difficult to talk
with the Georgian Church as it has it demands and as far as I know
they are against delivering churches to the Armenian side, that is why
it would be easier for us to deal with the Authorities and not with
the Church, as the Government is a more liberal body than the church.
To my mind, hasty adoption of the law was also related with the
following responses of the law, as if some referendum would have been
held on the issue, the position of the Georgian church and society
would be negative and Georgian authorities knew this, however the
outcome of all this was not in our interests."
As Stepanian told The Messenger, the anti-Armenian mood has
increased in Georgia in the last four days while the law concerned
other religions too. Namely, Stepanian's organization registered
38 cases, when representatives of religion, culture and politics
had anti-Armenian protests. Stepanian says he is going to submit an
application to the public prosecutor's office and to present the facts
to Ilia the Second, "it is the first time we are going to appeal to
the Holy Synod regarding the issue. At the same time, there is a newly
opened Ethic Council within the Georgian Patriarchate (we welcome the
existence of such a body) and we would present the facts against it.
Herewith, we have just completed our report regarding the recent events
and we are going to deliver it to the international organizations."
As for the Georgian Church's position, it has several times stated
that the issue needs discussions, the Church representatives have
frequently mentioned that some commission should be created which
will work on identifying which are Armenian churches and which are
Georgian. The Georgian Church was not against adopting such a law,
it demanded preliminary discussions on the issue and the same status
for the Georgian Church in other countries, including Armenia.
As analyst Gia Khukhashvili told The Messenger, the Georgian Church
has clearly fixed its position regarding the Armenian Church and
on the issue, from the beginning, "it has been very clearly stated
by the Georgian Church that it was not against the law, however the
decision should be made based on bilateral agreement, as Georgia also
has the same problem in Armenia where there are Georgian churches. The
Georgian Patriarchate was not against delivering churches if it is
confirmed that they are Armenian, however the Georgian Government with
this law has tried to leave the Patriarchate without its main lever,
to hold negotiations and the issue was to be solved through consensus.
Only the following actions of the society have forced the authorities
to make an unprecedented decision." It is also unclear for the analyst
which hopes were broken for the Armenian side, when the position of
the Georgian Church was very obvious from the beginning, "I can say
clearly that the Georgian authorities, by their unwise action have
artificially created tension with Armenia, putting themselves in a
hard situation and have also created problems for the Georgian Church.
" The analyst also commented Stepanian's suggestion that an anti
Armenian mood was surfacing in Georgia, "may be, in some small parts
of Georgian society such a mood is really increasing and its growth,
to my mind is related with the Georgian Government's unacceptable
action, when they have tried to ignore the Georgian Church. Also, the
actions of the Armenian Patriarch Garegin ll, during the meeting with
Ilia ll irritated Georgian society. However, all this is emotional
as such ill feeling is not in Georgian character and there are very
few Georgian people who expressed protest in this way."
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
The Messenger
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/2398_july_14_2011/2398_gvanca.html
Georgia
July 14 2011
The law regarding the religious faiths adopted lately by the Parliament
and especially the explanation note of the law has disappointed the
Armenian Church - founder of the Armenian community in Georgia Arnold
Stepanian told The Messenger, on July 13.
"The new amendments leave the registration right to the religious
organizations but deprive them of the wider rights. The law and
especially its explanation note directly says that on any religious
issue we will have to talk with the Georgian church and not with
any other institution. The consensus eased inner tension between
the government and orthodox church, but brought serious damage
to the Armenian church, that will not be able to apply to return
Armenian churches, while we had certain hopes in this direction",
Stepanian says.
Stepanian also explained the reason why their connection with the
Georgian Government would have been easier, "it is difficult to talk
with the Georgian Church as it has it demands and as far as I know
they are against delivering churches to the Armenian side, that is why
it would be easier for us to deal with the Authorities and not with
the Church, as the Government is a more liberal body than the church.
To my mind, hasty adoption of the law was also related with the
following responses of the law, as if some referendum would have been
held on the issue, the position of the Georgian church and society
would be negative and Georgian authorities knew this, however the
outcome of all this was not in our interests."
As Stepanian told The Messenger, the anti-Armenian mood has
increased in Georgia in the last four days while the law concerned
other religions too. Namely, Stepanian's organization registered
38 cases, when representatives of religion, culture and politics
had anti-Armenian protests. Stepanian says he is going to submit an
application to the public prosecutor's office and to present the facts
to Ilia the Second, "it is the first time we are going to appeal to
the Holy Synod regarding the issue. At the same time, there is a newly
opened Ethic Council within the Georgian Patriarchate (we welcome the
existence of such a body) and we would present the facts against it.
Herewith, we have just completed our report regarding the recent events
and we are going to deliver it to the international organizations."
As for the Georgian Church's position, it has several times stated
that the issue needs discussions, the Church representatives have
frequently mentioned that some commission should be created which
will work on identifying which are Armenian churches and which are
Georgian. The Georgian Church was not against adopting such a law,
it demanded preliminary discussions on the issue and the same status
for the Georgian Church in other countries, including Armenia.
As analyst Gia Khukhashvili told The Messenger, the Georgian Church
has clearly fixed its position regarding the Armenian Church and
on the issue, from the beginning, "it has been very clearly stated
by the Georgian Church that it was not against the law, however the
decision should be made based on bilateral agreement, as Georgia also
has the same problem in Armenia where there are Georgian churches. The
Georgian Patriarchate was not against delivering churches if it is
confirmed that they are Armenian, however the Georgian Government with
this law has tried to leave the Patriarchate without its main lever,
to hold negotiations and the issue was to be solved through consensus.
Only the following actions of the society have forced the authorities
to make an unprecedented decision." It is also unclear for the analyst
which hopes were broken for the Armenian side, when the position of
the Georgian Church was very obvious from the beginning, "I can say
clearly that the Georgian authorities, by their unwise action have
artificially created tension with Armenia, putting themselves in a
hard situation and have also created problems for the Georgian Church.
" The analyst also commented Stepanian's suggestion that an anti
Armenian mood was surfacing in Georgia, "may be, in some small parts
of Georgian society such a mood is really increasing and its growth,
to my mind is related with the Georgian Government's unacceptable
action, when they have tried to ignore the Georgian Church. Also, the
actions of the Armenian Patriarch Garegin ll, during the meeting with
Ilia ll irritated Georgian society. However, all this is emotional
as such ill feeling is not in Georgian character and there are very
few Georgian people who expressed protest in this way."