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A TALE OF THREE CITIES
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nersessian is a senior priest of the Armenian Apostolic
Church and holds a doctorate in theology from King's College,London.
He is a world authority on the Christian Middle East. Rev. Nersessian
is the author of a number of significant works on Armenian
Christian art and Christianity. He was born in Iran (1948), educated
atMartasiragan Djemaran of Calcutta, and at Echmiadzin. Subsequently
he moved to London where he became the curator of the Christian
Middle East Section at the British Library, a position that he held
for many years.
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nerses Nersessian, 7 December 2014
On the website of the Catholicosate of Holy Echmiadzin is a communique
concerning the recent episcopal gathering, in which representatives
from the dioceses from around the world had allegedly tabled the
motion to demote the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople
to the status of dioceses of a sort.
The abolishing of the Patriarchal status of Jerusalem and
Constantinople is not in the remit of Holy Echmiadzin or the synod
of Armenian Archbishops. Both these institutions have universal
and international status recognized and validated by international
treaties.
>From the presence of Armenians in Jerusalem and Constantinople
Christianity spread into Armenia before the emergence of St. Gregory
and King Drtad. A document attributed to an Armenian monk named
Anastas Vardabed lists seventy monasteries and churches owned by
Armenians in Jerusalem prior to the 7th century. In the mid-5th
century the Armenians had founded a scriptorium in Jerusalem, which
also emerged as an important intellectual centre, where significant
number of religious, canonical, and patristic texts were translated
into Armenian. The Armenian lectionary used in Armenian churches is
a translation from the Greek; the liturgy celebrated in the Armenian
Church is that of St James' translated into Armenian from the Greek as
it was celebrated in the Holy City in the 5th century. In 2008, Prof.
Abraham Terian published a study called Macarius of Jeruslaem, Letter
to the Armenians, AD 335 (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press & St. Nerses
Armenian Seminary, New York). The letter was penned by Macarius,
Bishop of Jerusalem, who had been commissioned by Emperor Constantine
to oversee the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. And
it is in answer to queries by the newly-established Armenian Church
regarding Baptism and the Eucharist. The document is dated to 335,
a little over 30 years after Armenia adopted Christianity as a state
religion. The presence of several mosaics with Armenian inscriptions,
some the earliest evidence of the use of the Armenian alphabet outside
Armenia, are the most reliable evidence of the presence of Armenians
in the Holy Land. The inscription on a mosaic found in the apse of the
6th century funerary chapel in the Musrara Quarter of Jerusalem has
the inscription "To the memory and salvation of all Armenians whose
names are known to the Lord ". This is an inscription for the memories
of those thousands of Armenians who made pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
When the Arabs conquered the Holy Land in 638, the Armenian See of
Jerusalem obtained a stature which equaled the Greek Patriarchate.
When Saladin occupied Jerusalem in 1187, as an avowed enemy of
the Latins and the Greeks, Saladin found it expedient to endow the
Armenians of the Holy Land privileges as custodian of the Holy Places.
This happened during the incumbency of the Armenian Patriarch Apraham
(1180-91). The small Armenian community of Jerusalem, comprising some
five-hundred monks and a thousand families, were granted a charter
guaranteeing the community's security and freedom of worship throughout
the entire domain, as well as the integrity of its possessions and
prerogatives in the Holy Places. The status quo of the Holy Places, as
enunciated in the 1850s and reconfirmed time and again in subsequent
years, was the sum of a historical evolution, whose beginnings are
traceable to the early centuries of Christianity. The privileges and
rights of the Armenian Patriarchate, along with those of the Latin and
Greek Patriarchates, were reaffirmed in the Paris Peace Conference
in 1856, and at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The Ottoman Sultan
Abdulhamid II 'the Red Sultan' is the instigator of a firman on 25
July 1888, coinciding with the incumbency of the Armenian Patriarch
Haroutiwn Vehapedian (1885-1910), which re-affirmed the supreme
authority of the Armenian Patriarch over all the Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, once again and his seat in Jerusalem was declared
"the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of the Holy Sepulchre,
Jerusalem, Gaza, Tripoli, Nablus, of the Ethiopians, the Copts and
other nationals'. This firman meant that the Armenian Patriarch
enjoyed the full protection of the Sublime Porte and acquired full
legal independence. The rights of the Armenian Patriarchate were
also protected by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. During the period
of Turkish Occupation of Palestine St James' thrived well under the
Ottoman rule. This has been due, on the one hand, to the influence
of the Armenian amiras in Constantinople at the Sublime Porte,
and on the other, to the Turkish policy of 'keeping the balance of
power' between the Greek and Latin communities in Jerusalem. It is
ironic that the 'Red Sultan' had recognized the importance of the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem within the realm of the Ottoman
Empire. The demotion of the Patriarchate to a 'diocese of a sort'
will be much welcomed by Israel and it would be a catastrophic blow
to the standing of Christianity in the Middle East.
Palestine that had formerly been governed under the British Mandatory
authority, which had brought a modicum of order to the region,
withdrew in May 1948 after the creation of the State of Israel.
Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan prepared a memorandum addressed to Dr. Ralf
Bunch, director of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, on the
possibility of implementing an earlier decision of the UN General
Assembly, whereby Jerusalem and its environs would be designated as
an "international zone". Archbishop Nersoyan 'memorandum' gives a
judicious history of the patriarchate and its role in the running
of the Holy Places and took part in the three Geneva discussions,
advocating the case for the Jerusalem Brotherhood to be allocated a
single voting right in the Administrative Council of the Holy Places
[Tiran Nersoyan (1904-1989)[See Documents for the history of the
Armenian Church, Holy Echmiadzin, 2004, pp.305-08].
Millions of Armenian Christians have gone to Jerusalem, walked the
walk their Lord walked from Bethlehem to Golgotha fulfilling their
Christian duty of supporting the convent by a gift of a manuscript,
a chalice, a lantern, set of luxurious vestments, curtains which were
the 'place of memory' for themselves and the future generations,
recalling the words of the prophet 'Blessed is he with a child in
Zion'. Patriarch Gregory the Chainbearer of Jerusalem (1715-1749)
and Yovhannes Kolot, Patriach of Constantinople (1678-1741) forged an
alliance between Jerusalem and Constantinople to save Jerusalem for
the Armenian Church of today. Thousands of orphans from the Turkish
Genocide found shelter in the Convent of St James' and some of whom
became the most prominent religious and intellectual leaders of the
Armenian Church of the 20th century. The founder of the Theological
Seminary of Armash raised a whole generation of learned primates who
steered the Armenian Church through its most difficult period among
them Maghakia Ormanian (1841-1918), Papken Guleserian (1868-1936),
Eghishe Tourian (1921-30), Torkom Koushagian (1931-39), Mesrob Nshanian
(1939-44), Gyuregh Israyelian (1944-49), Tiran Nersoyan (1904- 1989),
and Eghishe Derderian (1960-1990 ). In a poem calledMeknoghneroun
(The Departed) the poet-patriarch very movingly remembers the names
of those orphans 'who walked through the sands of the desert from
'Van to Salmast, to Nahr Omar, while others like drops of tears fell
silently, with thousand dreams'.
After the Sovietization of Armenia the entire dioceses
outside the Motherland were cared for my members of St James'
Brotherhood--Archbishops Serovpe Manougian, Sion Manougian, Bsak
Toumayan, Shnorhk Kaloustian, Mampre Kalfayan, Papken Varzhapedian,
Haigazoun Abrahamian, Asoghig Ghazarian, Tiran Nersoyan, Torkom
Manougian, and presently Khajak Barsamian. The first clergy from
Holy Echmiadzin to hold a position in the Diaspora were the late
Archbishops Arsen Berberian and Nerses Bozapalian in the Diocese
of Great Britain after the 1965s. For this alone Holy Echmiadzian
and the Armenian Nation must be eternally grateful. While the See of
Cilicia disowned Holy Echmiadzin the Brotherhood of Jerusalem remained
steadfastly faithful to Holy Echmiadzin and performed every task it
was requested to perform by catholicoses in Holy Echmiadzin.
The proposed Constitution for the Armenian Church was in the
processes of making during the incumbency of the Catholicos
Vazken Ist with the participation of Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan,
the greatest canonist of the Armenian Church, next to academician
Vazken Hakobyan. Archbishop Nersoyan was a reluctant participant
in the formulation of the Constitution for he knew 'the Armenian
Church, as all other ancient mainline Churches, both western and
Eastern, ought to be governed by canon law, not a constitution'
[Hagop Nersoyan, Remarks on a proposed constitution for the Armenian
Church, Jerusalem,2001]. From the earliest times the Church has
governed its affairs by canon laws and has avoided going down the
path of constitutional rigidity for several reasons. Constitutions
were adopted in exceptional cases in very particular situation
like the National Constitution of the Armenians in effect in
Constantinople in 1863 or the Polozhenye in 1836 in Tsarist Russia,
which reduced the Armenian Church into a department of religious
affairs within a large body of what may be described as the National
Administration. Both these Constitutions were adopted or forced
on the Armenian Church in order to facilitate its dealings with two
particular states--Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Turkey. It is impossible
to formulate a single constitution to govern various dioceses located
in various countries with incompatible rules and regulations. If the
Church does formulate such a Constitution, it will be condemned to
remain futile words tossed into the air and will be more damaging than
beneficial [ÔµÕ©Õ§ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AÕ"Õ¶ Õ¡ÕµÕ¶Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶Õ" O~B
Õ°Õ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¿Õ§ Õ¡ÕµÕ¤ÕºÕ"Õ½Õ" Â"Õ~MÕ¡Õ°Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ¸O~BÕ©à •"O~BÕ¶Â",
Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ Õ¤Õ¡Õ¿Õ¡ÕºÕ¡O~@Õ¿Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ® Õ§ Õ´Õ¶Õ¡Õ¬Õ¸O~B O...Õ¤Õ"Õ¶ Õ´Õ§Õ"
ÕÂO...Õ½O~D Õ¥O~B Õ¤Õ¡Õ¼Õ¶Õ¡Õ¬Õ¸O~B Õ¡O~BÕ¥Õ¬Õ" Õ¾Õ¶Õ¡Õ½Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡O~@
O~DÕ¡Õ¶ Õ©Õ§ O...Õ£Õ¿Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡O~@] (Tiran Nersoyan, Documents p.527). This
clear warning has come to pass. He makes this criticism in a very
long letter dated 28th July 1962 to His Holiness Vazken Ist, who had
sent him a draft of the Constitution for his observation (Documents on
the History of the Armenian Church. Document no.212-213, pp. 460- 480;
no. 238, pp.518-558, dated July 28th 1959 and 29th July 1962). For the
purposes of this communication I will only highlight a few selected
observations that have direct bearing on the subject of my essay.
Clause 84 (p.477).' '[The Catholicos ] has complete authority on
the administration of the Armenian Church' [Õ~FÕ¡ Õ¬Õ"Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¿Õ¡O~@
Õ"Õ·ÕÂÕ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶ Õ¸O~BÕ¶Õ" Õ~@Õ¡Õµ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AO~BÕ¸Õµ
Õ¾Õ¡O~@Õ¹Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¡Õ¶ Õ¾O~@Õ¡Õµ]. This assertion is undefined and
does not correspond to reality. Anyone writing history should not
confuse desirability with reality.
Clause 85 (p.478). There is a degree of papal style authoritarianism
[ÕºÕ¡ÕºÕ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶ Õ¯Õ¨ Õ©Õ¥Õ¬Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ§] creeping around the
person of the Catholicos. It is more appropriate to say 'the unity of
the Armenian Church is safeguarded by the canonical authority of the
Catholicos as head of the Episcopal order' [Õ~@Õ¡Õµ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AÕ¸O~B
Õ´Õ"Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶Õ¨ Õ¯Õ~]Õ¡ÕºÕ¡Õ°Õ¸Õ¾Õ¸O~BÕ" Ô¿Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ"
Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Õ¾Õ¥O~@Õ"Õ¶ Õ"Õ·ÕÂÕ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¡Õ´Õ¢Õ ~] Õ"
Õ£Õ¬Õ¸O~BÕ Õ¥ÕºÕ"Õ½Õ¯Õ¸ÕºÕ¸Õ½Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ ¶ Õ¤Õ¡Õ½Õ¸O~BÕ¶].
Armenian Church's second universally recognized Armenian community
with a patriarch as its head is the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople. The third canon of the Ecumenical Council of
Constantinople held in 381 established Constantinople's place
of honor in the ecclesiastical hierarchy right after Rome. The
Council of Chalcedon held in 451 confirmed the precedence of
Constantinople over the Patriarchates of Antioch and Alexandria and
its jurisdiction over all of Asia Minor. The Armenian presence in
Constantinople has contributed to the cultural and material wealth
of the imperial city since the reign of Emperor Constantine. The
Armenian historian Agathangeghos in his History of the Armenians
describes a visit by the fourth century King Drtad of Armenia and
St. Saint Gregory to Constantine I, after they became Christian rulers
(H.Bartikyan, Dashants Tought [Letter of Concord], PBH 2(2004),
65-115 Dr.Vrej Nersessian 'Did Drtad meet Constantine I the Great',
HHH, vol.XIX,1999,pp.65-70). The Armenian literary figures Ghazar
Parpetsi, describes the close links of the newly-founded Christian
state of Armenia with Constantinople in these words 'streams of wisdom
have been flowing from the royal capital'. Movses Khorenatsi states
that he visited Constantinople and provides detailed description of
the buildings of the capital. Goryoon relates that Mesrob Mashdots
'acquired many inspired books of the fathers of the church' in
Constantinople and brought these to Armenia from Constantinople. After
the invention of the Armenian alphabets, Mashdots sent his disciples
to Constantinople among them Ghevont, Yeznik, Goryoon. Armenian kings
and Cartholicoses placed a premium on their political and cultural ties
with Constantinople. The revised translation of the Armenian Bible is
based on the Greek texts brought to Armenia by those Armenian clergy
attending the Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431.
In the autumn of 1453 the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II captured
Constantinople. In 1461 the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
was established to supervise both the civil and religious affairs of
the Armenian 'millet', as a practical system of governance over the
Armenians in the entire Ottoman Empire. The Armenian Patriarchate
played a central role in the reform initiated for the Armenian
millet in the 19th century. These were ratified by the Sultan in
1847 leading to the founding of the Armenian Spiritual and Supreme
Council in 1863, confirming the regulations that became known as
the 'Armenian National Constitution' [Â"Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A Ô±Õ¦Õ£Õ¡ÕµÕ"Õ¶
Õ~MÕ¡Õ°Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O ~BÕ¶Â"]. In January 1916 the Young Turks
terminated and nullified the Armenian National Constitution and the
Patriarch of the day Zaven Ter Yeghiayan was exiled to Baghdad and
thence to Mosul, where he remained until the end of the war. The
Allied victory and occupation of Constantinople forced the defeated
Turks on November 20, 1918 to re-institute the legal status of the
Armenian Patriarchate. Patriarch Zaven returned to Constantinople on
the British destroyer 'Acacia' on February 19, 1919.
After the transfer of the Catholicosate from Cilicia to Holy Echmiadzin
(AD 1441), from 1520 to 1910, thirty-one catholicoi have occupied the
throne of St. Gregory the Illuminator (Ormanian,Azgapatoum,vols.1-III,
Beirut,1965) of these two have been from Byzantium (i.e Constantinople)
and four have been former Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople--Grigor
XI Pyzantatsi (1536-1545), Aleksandr II Pyzantatsi (1753-1755),
Matt'eos I Kostandnopolsetsi (1858-65), Gevorg IV Kostandnoplosetsi
(1866-82), Mkrtitch I VanetsiKhrimyan Hayrik (1892-1907), Matteos II
KostandnO...upolsetsi ( 1908-1910).
On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it
would be a much welcomed gift to the Turks if the Patriarchate
of Constantinople--a thorn in the side of the Turkish state--was
demoted to the status of a diocese. In the last two decades the
Turkish authorities have blocked the election of a new Patriarch of
Constantinople. If at some stage in the future Turkey recognizes the
Armenian Genocide and decides to make cultural, material compensations
then the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, as the principle
institution governing the affairs of Western Armenians, would be the
main body to negotiate and receive and appropriate compensation on
behalf of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
When the entire Diaspora of Western Armenians for whom the Patriachates
of Jerusalem and Constantinople have been spiritual, intellectual
and moral fortresses for centuries, they are being threatened with
the prospect of being demoted to the 'status' of dioceses.
It is most unfortunate that the memories of the Genocide victims
are being explicitly and unashamedly exploited by crisis of our
own making. It is painful to see attempts being made to vilify the
Brotherhood of Jerusalem by accusations of being unfaithful to the
memory of the Genocide victims.
http://www.keghart.com/Rev-Nersessian-Jerusalem-Constantinople
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nersessian is a senior priest of the Armenian Apostolic
Church and holds a doctorate in theology from King's College,London.
He is a world authority on the Christian Middle East. Rev. Nersessian
is the author of a number of significant works on Armenian
Christian art and Christianity. He was born in Iran (1948), educated
atMartasiragan Djemaran of Calcutta, and at Echmiadzin. Subsequently
he moved to London where he became the curator of the Christian
Middle East Section at the British Library, a position that he held
for many years.
Rev. Dr. Vrej Nerses Nersessian, 7 December 2014
On the website of the Catholicosate of Holy Echmiadzin is a communique
concerning the recent episcopal gathering, in which representatives
from the dioceses from around the world had allegedly tabled the
motion to demote the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople
to the status of dioceses of a sort.
The abolishing of the Patriarchal status of Jerusalem and
Constantinople is not in the remit of Holy Echmiadzin or the synod
of Armenian Archbishops. Both these institutions have universal
and international status recognized and validated by international
treaties.
>From the presence of Armenians in Jerusalem and Constantinople
Christianity spread into Armenia before the emergence of St. Gregory
and King Drtad. A document attributed to an Armenian monk named
Anastas Vardabed lists seventy monasteries and churches owned by
Armenians in Jerusalem prior to the 7th century. In the mid-5th
century the Armenians had founded a scriptorium in Jerusalem, which
also emerged as an important intellectual centre, where significant
number of religious, canonical, and patristic texts were translated
into Armenian. The Armenian lectionary used in Armenian churches is
a translation from the Greek; the liturgy celebrated in the Armenian
Church is that of St James' translated into Armenian from the Greek as
it was celebrated in the Holy City in the 5th century. In 2008, Prof.
Abraham Terian published a study called Macarius of Jeruslaem, Letter
to the Armenians, AD 335 (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press & St. Nerses
Armenian Seminary, New York). The letter was penned by Macarius,
Bishop of Jerusalem, who had been commissioned by Emperor Constantine
to oversee the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. And
it is in answer to queries by the newly-established Armenian Church
regarding Baptism and the Eucharist. The document is dated to 335,
a little over 30 years after Armenia adopted Christianity as a state
religion. The presence of several mosaics with Armenian inscriptions,
some the earliest evidence of the use of the Armenian alphabet outside
Armenia, are the most reliable evidence of the presence of Armenians
in the Holy Land. The inscription on a mosaic found in the apse of the
6th century funerary chapel in the Musrara Quarter of Jerusalem has
the inscription "To the memory and salvation of all Armenians whose
names are known to the Lord ". This is an inscription for the memories
of those thousands of Armenians who made pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
When the Arabs conquered the Holy Land in 638, the Armenian See of
Jerusalem obtained a stature which equaled the Greek Patriarchate.
When Saladin occupied Jerusalem in 1187, as an avowed enemy of
the Latins and the Greeks, Saladin found it expedient to endow the
Armenians of the Holy Land privileges as custodian of the Holy Places.
This happened during the incumbency of the Armenian Patriarch Apraham
(1180-91). The small Armenian community of Jerusalem, comprising some
five-hundred monks and a thousand families, were granted a charter
guaranteeing the community's security and freedom of worship throughout
the entire domain, as well as the integrity of its possessions and
prerogatives in the Holy Places. The status quo of the Holy Places, as
enunciated in the 1850s and reconfirmed time and again in subsequent
years, was the sum of a historical evolution, whose beginnings are
traceable to the early centuries of Christianity. The privileges and
rights of the Armenian Patriarchate, along with those of the Latin and
Greek Patriarchates, were reaffirmed in the Paris Peace Conference
in 1856, and at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The Ottoman Sultan
Abdulhamid II 'the Red Sultan' is the instigator of a firman on 25
July 1888, coinciding with the incumbency of the Armenian Patriarch
Haroutiwn Vehapedian (1885-1910), which re-affirmed the supreme
authority of the Armenian Patriarch over all the Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, once again and his seat in Jerusalem was declared
"the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of the Holy Sepulchre,
Jerusalem, Gaza, Tripoli, Nablus, of the Ethiopians, the Copts and
other nationals'. This firman meant that the Armenian Patriarch
enjoyed the full protection of the Sublime Porte and acquired full
legal independence. The rights of the Armenian Patriarchate were
also protected by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. During the period
of Turkish Occupation of Palestine St James' thrived well under the
Ottoman rule. This has been due, on the one hand, to the influence
of the Armenian amiras in Constantinople at the Sublime Porte,
and on the other, to the Turkish policy of 'keeping the balance of
power' between the Greek and Latin communities in Jerusalem. It is
ironic that the 'Red Sultan' had recognized the importance of the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem within the realm of the Ottoman
Empire. The demotion of the Patriarchate to a 'diocese of a sort'
will be much welcomed by Israel and it would be a catastrophic blow
to the standing of Christianity in the Middle East.
Palestine that had formerly been governed under the British Mandatory
authority, which had brought a modicum of order to the region,
withdrew in May 1948 after the creation of the State of Israel.
Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan prepared a memorandum addressed to Dr. Ralf
Bunch, director of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, on the
possibility of implementing an earlier decision of the UN General
Assembly, whereby Jerusalem and its environs would be designated as
an "international zone". Archbishop Nersoyan 'memorandum' gives a
judicious history of the patriarchate and its role in the running
of the Holy Places and took part in the three Geneva discussions,
advocating the case for the Jerusalem Brotherhood to be allocated a
single voting right in the Administrative Council of the Holy Places
[Tiran Nersoyan (1904-1989)[See Documents for the history of the
Armenian Church, Holy Echmiadzin, 2004, pp.305-08].
Millions of Armenian Christians have gone to Jerusalem, walked the
walk their Lord walked from Bethlehem to Golgotha fulfilling their
Christian duty of supporting the convent by a gift of a manuscript,
a chalice, a lantern, set of luxurious vestments, curtains which were
the 'place of memory' for themselves and the future generations,
recalling the words of the prophet 'Blessed is he with a child in
Zion'. Patriarch Gregory the Chainbearer of Jerusalem (1715-1749)
and Yovhannes Kolot, Patriach of Constantinople (1678-1741) forged an
alliance between Jerusalem and Constantinople to save Jerusalem for
the Armenian Church of today. Thousands of orphans from the Turkish
Genocide found shelter in the Convent of St James' and some of whom
became the most prominent religious and intellectual leaders of the
Armenian Church of the 20th century. The founder of the Theological
Seminary of Armash raised a whole generation of learned primates who
steered the Armenian Church through its most difficult period among
them Maghakia Ormanian (1841-1918), Papken Guleserian (1868-1936),
Eghishe Tourian (1921-30), Torkom Koushagian (1931-39), Mesrob Nshanian
(1939-44), Gyuregh Israyelian (1944-49), Tiran Nersoyan (1904- 1989),
and Eghishe Derderian (1960-1990 ). In a poem calledMeknoghneroun
(The Departed) the poet-patriarch very movingly remembers the names
of those orphans 'who walked through the sands of the desert from
'Van to Salmast, to Nahr Omar, while others like drops of tears fell
silently, with thousand dreams'.
After the Sovietization of Armenia the entire dioceses
outside the Motherland were cared for my members of St James'
Brotherhood--Archbishops Serovpe Manougian, Sion Manougian, Bsak
Toumayan, Shnorhk Kaloustian, Mampre Kalfayan, Papken Varzhapedian,
Haigazoun Abrahamian, Asoghig Ghazarian, Tiran Nersoyan, Torkom
Manougian, and presently Khajak Barsamian. The first clergy from
Holy Echmiadzin to hold a position in the Diaspora were the late
Archbishops Arsen Berberian and Nerses Bozapalian in the Diocese
of Great Britain after the 1965s. For this alone Holy Echmiadzian
and the Armenian Nation must be eternally grateful. While the See of
Cilicia disowned Holy Echmiadzin the Brotherhood of Jerusalem remained
steadfastly faithful to Holy Echmiadzin and performed every task it
was requested to perform by catholicoses in Holy Echmiadzin.
The proposed Constitution for the Armenian Church was in the
processes of making during the incumbency of the Catholicos
Vazken Ist with the participation of Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan,
the greatest canonist of the Armenian Church, next to academician
Vazken Hakobyan. Archbishop Nersoyan was a reluctant participant
in the formulation of the Constitution for he knew 'the Armenian
Church, as all other ancient mainline Churches, both western and
Eastern, ought to be governed by canon law, not a constitution'
[Hagop Nersoyan, Remarks on a proposed constitution for the Armenian
Church, Jerusalem,2001]. From the earliest times the Church has
governed its affairs by canon laws and has avoided going down the
path of constitutional rigidity for several reasons. Constitutions
were adopted in exceptional cases in very particular situation
like the National Constitution of the Armenians in effect in
Constantinople in 1863 or the Polozhenye in 1836 in Tsarist Russia,
which reduced the Armenian Church into a department of religious
affairs within a large body of what may be described as the National
Administration. Both these Constitutions were adopted or forced
on the Armenian Church in order to facilitate its dealings with two
particular states--Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Turkey. It is impossible
to formulate a single constitution to govern various dioceses located
in various countries with incompatible rules and regulations. If the
Church does formulate such a Constitution, it will be condemned to
remain futile words tossed into the air and will be more damaging than
beneficial [ÔµÕ©Õ§ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AÕ"Õ¶ Õ¡ÕµÕ¶Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ´Õ¥Õ¶Õ¡ÕµÕ¶Õ" O~B
Õ°Õ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¿Õ§ Õ¡ÕµÕ¤ÕºÕ"Õ½Õ" Â"Õ~MÕ¡Õ°Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ¸O~BÕ©à •"O~BÕ¶Â",
Õ¡ÕµÕ¶ Õ¤Õ¡Õ¿Õ¡ÕºÕ¡O~@Õ¿Õ¸O~BÕ¡Õ® Õ§ Õ´Õ¶Õ¡Õ¬Õ¸O~B O...Õ¤Õ"Õ¶ Õ´Õ§Õ"
ÕÂO...Õ½O~D Õ¥O~B Õ¤Õ¡Õ¼Õ¶Õ¡Õ¬Õ¸O~B Õ¡O~BÕ¥Õ¬Õ" Õ¾Õ¶Õ¡Õ½Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡O~@
O~DÕ¡Õ¶ Õ©Õ§ O...Õ£Õ¿Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡O~@] (Tiran Nersoyan, Documents p.527). This
clear warning has come to pass. He makes this criticism in a very
long letter dated 28th July 1962 to His Holiness Vazken Ist, who had
sent him a draft of the Constitution for his observation (Documents on
the History of the Armenian Church. Document no.212-213, pp. 460- 480;
no. 238, pp.518-558, dated July 28th 1959 and 29th July 1962). For the
purposes of this communication I will only highlight a few selected
observations that have direct bearing on the subject of my essay.
Clause 84 (p.477).' '[The Catholicos ] has complete authority on
the administration of the Armenian Church' [Õ~FÕ¡ Õ¬Õ"Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¿Õ¡O~@
Õ"Õ·ÕÂÕ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶ Õ¸O~BÕ¶Õ" Õ~@Õ¡Õµ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AO~BÕ¸Õµ
Õ¾Õ¡O~@Õ¹Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¡Õ¶ Õ¾O~@Õ¡Õµ]. This assertion is undefined and
does not correspond to reality. Anyone writing history should not
confuse desirability with reality.
Clause 85 (p.478). There is a degree of papal style authoritarianism
[ÕºÕ¡ÕºÕ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶ Õ¯Õ¨ Õ©Õ¥Õ¬Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ§] creeping around the
person of the Catholicos. It is more appropriate to say 'the unity of
the Armenian Church is safeguarded by the canonical authority of the
Catholicos as head of the Episcopal order' [Õ~@Õ¡Õµ Õ¥Õ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥O~AÕ¸O~B
Õ´Õ"Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O~BÕ¶Õ¨ Õ¯Õ~]Õ¡ÕºÕ¡Õ°Õ¸Õ¾Õ¸O~BÕ" Ô¿Õ¡Õ©Õ¸Õ²Õ"Õ¯Õ¸Õ½Õ"
Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶Õ¸Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Õ¾Õ¥O~@Õ"Õ¶ Õ"Õ·ÕÂÕ¡Õ¶Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ¥Õ¡Õ´Õ¢Õ ~] Õ"
Õ£Õ¬Õ¸O~BÕ Õ¥ÕºÕ"Õ½Õ¯Õ¸ÕºÕ¸Õ½Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ ¶ Õ¤Õ¡Õ½Õ¸O~BÕ¶].
Armenian Church's second universally recognized Armenian community
with a patriarch as its head is the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople. The third canon of the Ecumenical Council of
Constantinople held in 381 established Constantinople's place
of honor in the ecclesiastical hierarchy right after Rome. The
Council of Chalcedon held in 451 confirmed the precedence of
Constantinople over the Patriarchates of Antioch and Alexandria and
its jurisdiction over all of Asia Minor. The Armenian presence in
Constantinople has contributed to the cultural and material wealth
of the imperial city since the reign of Emperor Constantine. The
Armenian historian Agathangeghos in his History of the Armenians
describes a visit by the fourth century King Drtad of Armenia and
St. Saint Gregory to Constantine I, after they became Christian rulers
(H.Bartikyan, Dashants Tought [Letter of Concord], PBH 2(2004),
65-115 Dr.Vrej Nersessian 'Did Drtad meet Constantine I the Great',
HHH, vol.XIX,1999,pp.65-70). The Armenian literary figures Ghazar
Parpetsi, describes the close links of the newly-founded Christian
state of Armenia with Constantinople in these words 'streams of wisdom
have been flowing from the royal capital'. Movses Khorenatsi states
that he visited Constantinople and provides detailed description of
the buildings of the capital. Goryoon relates that Mesrob Mashdots
'acquired many inspired books of the fathers of the church' in
Constantinople and brought these to Armenia from Constantinople. After
the invention of the Armenian alphabets, Mashdots sent his disciples
to Constantinople among them Ghevont, Yeznik, Goryoon. Armenian kings
and Cartholicoses placed a premium on their political and cultural ties
with Constantinople. The revised translation of the Armenian Bible is
based on the Greek texts brought to Armenia by those Armenian clergy
attending the Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431.
In the autumn of 1453 the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II captured
Constantinople. In 1461 the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
was established to supervise both the civil and religious affairs of
the Armenian 'millet', as a practical system of governance over the
Armenians in the entire Ottoman Empire. The Armenian Patriarchate
played a central role in the reform initiated for the Armenian
millet in the 19th century. These were ratified by the Sultan in
1847 leading to the founding of the Armenian Spiritual and Supreme
Council in 1863, confirming the regulations that became known as
the 'Armenian National Constitution' [Â"Õ~@Õ¡ÕµÕ¸O~A Ô±Õ¦Õ£Õ¡ÕµÕ"Õ¶
Õ~MÕ¡Õ°Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ¤O~@Õ¸O~BÕ©Õ"O ~BÕ¶Â"]. In January 1916 the Young Turks
terminated and nullified the Armenian National Constitution and the
Patriarch of the day Zaven Ter Yeghiayan was exiled to Baghdad and
thence to Mosul, where he remained until the end of the war. The
Allied victory and occupation of Constantinople forced the defeated
Turks on November 20, 1918 to re-institute the legal status of the
Armenian Patriarchate. Patriarch Zaven returned to Constantinople on
the British destroyer 'Acacia' on February 19, 1919.
After the transfer of the Catholicosate from Cilicia to Holy Echmiadzin
(AD 1441), from 1520 to 1910, thirty-one catholicoi have occupied the
throne of St. Gregory the Illuminator (Ormanian,Azgapatoum,vols.1-III,
Beirut,1965) of these two have been from Byzantium (i.e Constantinople)
and four have been former Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople--Grigor
XI Pyzantatsi (1536-1545), Aleksandr II Pyzantatsi (1753-1755),
Matt'eos I Kostandnopolsetsi (1858-65), Gevorg IV Kostandnoplosetsi
(1866-82), Mkrtitch I VanetsiKhrimyan Hayrik (1892-1907), Matteos II
KostandnO...upolsetsi ( 1908-1910).
On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it
would be a much welcomed gift to the Turks if the Patriarchate
of Constantinople--a thorn in the side of the Turkish state--was
demoted to the status of a diocese. In the last two decades the
Turkish authorities have blocked the election of a new Patriarch of
Constantinople. If at some stage in the future Turkey recognizes the
Armenian Genocide and decides to make cultural, material compensations
then the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, as the principle
institution governing the affairs of Western Armenians, would be the
main body to negotiate and receive and appropriate compensation on
behalf of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
When the entire Diaspora of Western Armenians for whom the Patriachates
of Jerusalem and Constantinople have been spiritual, intellectual
and moral fortresses for centuries, they are being threatened with
the prospect of being demoted to the 'status' of dioceses.
It is most unfortunate that the memories of the Genocide victims
are being explicitly and unashamedly exploited by crisis of our
own making. It is painful to see attempts being made to vilify the
Brotherhood of Jerusalem by accusations of being unfaithful to the
memory of the Genocide victims.
http://www.keghart.com/Rev-Nersessian-Jerusalem-Constantinople