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CATHOLICOS HASN'T GOT USED TO HIS POST FOR 14 YEARS
10:45 29/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/country/view/29449
The catholicos of Armenia has recently defrocked Priest Zohrap
Mazmanyan of the Georgian Armenian Diocese, for leaving the place
of his pastoral service. Earlier he had defrocked Pastor Sahak of
Notre Dame of Nice, France. Since his election, Catholicos Garegin
II has defrocked over 100 priests. Now the priests defrocked by this
catholicos are uniting.
In an interview with us, Pastor Sahak said recently the French embassy
has conducted a survey in Armenia to figure out the level of confidence
in the catholicos. The answer of 95% of respondents was negative. This
man has not got used to his position for 14 years, it is a complex,
he says. In 2000 the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop
Mutafyan wrote him a letter which stated, "You have been the catholicos
for over a year, and you need not prove your powers."
He notes that the Holy See Echmiadzin imposes a new Code of Conduct
on the communities, which is not in line with the habits of most
countries, the Armenian community there. He is pursuing his personal,
material interests, which is not accepted by the communities, there
is a conflict of interest. "Our interest is to preserve the Armenian
communities, his interest is material interest, possessions."The
religious community of Nice has rejected the new Code of Conduct
according to which they wanted to take control of their entire
property, and Garegin II could telephone them and tell them to send
him 150,000 euro which would not be spent on activities for preserving
Armenians, the everyday life of the religious community.
"The criminal oligarchy builds new churches because its representatives
have a lot of money, they want to launder that money.
Here are their interests, were there not for these interests, the
old monasteries and churches would have been repaired," Priest Sahak
informed.
"Garegin II went even further and declared the church of Nice
non-Apostolic. Neither his personal decision, nor the decisions of the
supreme ecclesiastic council are legitimate," Priest Sahak says. The
Patriarch of Constantinople wrote in the same letter, "We were startled
when we received the new list of members of the supreme ecclesiastic
council because the members of the council are elected by the national
ecclesiastic assembly and not appointed by the catholicos."
In answer to the remark that while the Pope of Rome lives a modest
life, in Armenia there is social injustice between the society and the
church, as the clergy live luxury lives, Priest Sahak says they receive
money from criminals which has been stolen from people, churches are
built on this money, and Garegin II blesses these people, awards them,
declares them heroes. A greater part of the church elite lives a luxury
life, their thurifers and trumpeters are sent abroad by the catholicos
where they can make money and they call themselves the soldiers of the
catholicos, Priest Sahak says, noting that there are also poor priests.
24 defrocked priests have already held their first assembly. The
meetings will continue. At the first meeting they discussed how they
can restore lawfulness and justice in the church and bring people of
the Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora closer to the church. Priest
Sahak hopes their number will double at the next assembly.
He notes that there are no arguments that justify why those clergymen
were defrocked.
From: Baghdasarian
10:45 29/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/country/view/29449
The catholicos of Armenia has recently defrocked Priest Zohrap
Mazmanyan of the Georgian Armenian Diocese, for leaving the place
of his pastoral service. Earlier he had defrocked Pastor Sahak of
Notre Dame of Nice, France. Since his election, Catholicos Garegin
II has defrocked over 100 priests. Now the priests defrocked by this
catholicos are uniting.
In an interview with us, Pastor Sahak said recently the French embassy
has conducted a survey in Armenia to figure out the level of confidence
in the catholicos. The answer of 95% of respondents was negative. This
man has not got used to his position for 14 years, it is a complex,
he says. In 2000 the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop
Mutafyan wrote him a letter which stated, "You have been the catholicos
for over a year, and you need not prove your powers."
He notes that the Holy See Echmiadzin imposes a new Code of Conduct
on the communities, which is not in line with the habits of most
countries, the Armenian community there. He is pursuing his personal,
material interests, which is not accepted by the communities, there
is a conflict of interest. "Our interest is to preserve the Armenian
communities, his interest is material interest, possessions."The
religious community of Nice has rejected the new Code of Conduct
according to which they wanted to take control of their entire
property, and Garegin II could telephone them and tell them to send
him 150,000 euro which would not be spent on activities for preserving
Armenians, the everyday life of the religious community.
"The criminal oligarchy builds new churches because its representatives
have a lot of money, they want to launder that money.
Here are their interests, were there not for these interests, the
old monasteries and churches would have been repaired," Priest Sahak
informed.
"Garegin II went even further and declared the church of Nice
non-Apostolic. Neither his personal decision, nor the decisions of the
supreme ecclesiastic council are legitimate," Priest Sahak says. The
Patriarch of Constantinople wrote in the same letter, "We were startled
when we received the new list of members of the supreme ecclesiastic
council because the members of the council are elected by the national
ecclesiastic assembly and not appointed by the catholicos."
In answer to the remark that while the Pope of Rome lives a modest
life, in Armenia there is social injustice between the society and the
church, as the clergy live luxury lives, Priest Sahak says they receive
money from criminals which has been stolen from people, churches are
built on this money, and Garegin II blesses these people, awards them,
declares them heroes. A greater part of the church elite lives a luxury
life, their thurifers and trumpeters are sent abroad by the catholicos
where they can make money and they call themselves the soldiers of the
catholicos, Priest Sahak says, noting that there are also poor priests.
24 defrocked priests have already held their first assembly. The
meetings will continue. At the first meeting they discussed how they
can restore lawfulness and justice in the church and bring people of
the Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora closer to the church. Priest
Sahak hopes their number will double at the next assembly.
He notes that there are no arguments that justify why those clergymen
were defrocked.
From: Baghdasarian