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Echmiadzin Condemns Attack on Armenian Clerics in Georgia
INTERNATIONAL NEWS, NEWS | JULY 24, 2014 12:56 PM
TBILISI (RFE/RL) -- Church officials in Armenia have expressed their
concern over a violent incident in an Armenian church in Tbilisi this
week that left several clergymen injured.
In a statement disseminated on Sunday the Georgian Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) described the previous day's
altercation and subsequent violence against Armenian clerics, Diocese
employees and a group of Christian Armenians in the yard of the Holy
Echmiadzin Church in the Georgian capital as a "pre-planned attack"
committed on the grounds of "ethnic and religious hatred."
It said as many as 50 men, some of whom were armed, committed the
violence that was prompted by an earlier argument over parking space
involving a Georgian woman and an Armenian priest.
Some people attending an Armenian christening ceremony inside the
church at the moment reportedly came out into the yard and were also
attacked by the men.
"Women and children, shocked by what they had seen, hid in the
church," the statement reads. "We must note that a group of nicely
dressed people were watching the incident."
According to the statement, clerics and employees of the Armenian
Diocese got physical injuries and one of the attacking men tore a
cross off the neck of one priest and took it with him. The Armenian
Diocese called on Georgian law-enforcement bodies to investigate what
happened as a crime committed on ethnic and religious grounds. But in
a statement issued later the Georgian Interior Ministry said that it
saw no ethnic motives behind the violence.
Meanwhile, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Echmiadzin issued a separate statement on Monday, insisting that the
actions of the men who attacked the Armenian church in Tbilisi
"incited ethnic hatred and religious intolerance."
"This provocative infringement is a regrettable consequence of
anti-Armenian sentiments being spread by different organizations and
individuals in Georgia, including by certain Georgian clerics," the
AAC said, stressing that such "manifestations of extremism" contradict
"the spirit of friendly relations" between the Armenian and Georgian
peoples.
"The Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin expects the Georgian authorities to
bring all those who committed the infringement upon the Armenian
Church to responsibility and to ensure the security and normal life
for the Armenian Church and Armenian community in Georgia," it
emphasized.
Armenpress reported that the head of the Foreign Department of the
Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaishi,
on July 22 met with Prelate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Bishop
Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and discussed the attack. "The attack on the
Armenian Church of Holy Echmiadzin is unacceptable and the Georgian
Orthodox Church condemns that incident and calls on the parties for
peace and tranquility. Besides, the Georgian Church will try to
contribute to the settlement of the problem and the peaceful
coexistence of all religions," according to a statement by the
Georgian Church.
- See more at: http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/07/24/echmiadzin-condemns-attack-on-armenian-clerics-in-georgia/#sthash.KKsrrCZu.dpuf
INTERNATIONAL NEWS, NEWS | JULY 24, 2014 12:56 PM
TBILISI (RFE/RL) -- Church officials in Armenia have expressed their
concern over a violent incident in an Armenian church in Tbilisi this
week that left several clergymen injured.
In a statement disseminated on Sunday the Georgian Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) described the previous day's
altercation and subsequent violence against Armenian clerics, Diocese
employees and a group of Christian Armenians in the yard of the Holy
Echmiadzin Church in the Georgian capital as a "pre-planned attack"
committed on the grounds of "ethnic and religious hatred."
It said as many as 50 men, some of whom were armed, committed the
violence that was prompted by an earlier argument over parking space
involving a Georgian woman and an Armenian priest.
Some people attending an Armenian christening ceremony inside the
church at the moment reportedly came out into the yard and were also
attacked by the men.
"Women and children, shocked by what they had seen, hid in the
church," the statement reads. "We must note that a group of nicely
dressed people were watching the incident."
According to the statement, clerics and employees of the Armenian
Diocese got physical injuries and one of the attacking men tore a
cross off the neck of one priest and took it with him. The Armenian
Diocese called on Georgian law-enforcement bodies to investigate what
happened as a crime committed on ethnic and religious grounds. But in
a statement issued later the Georgian Interior Ministry said that it
saw no ethnic motives behind the violence.
Meanwhile, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Echmiadzin issued a separate statement on Monday, insisting that the
actions of the men who attacked the Armenian church in Tbilisi
"incited ethnic hatred and religious intolerance."
"This provocative infringement is a regrettable consequence of
anti-Armenian sentiments being spread by different organizations and
individuals in Georgia, including by certain Georgian clerics," the
AAC said, stressing that such "manifestations of extremism" contradict
"the spirit of friendly relations" between the Armenian and Georgian
peoples.
"The Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin expects the Georgian authorities to
bring all those who committed the infringement upon the Armenian
Church to responsibility and to ensure the security and normal life
for the Armenian Church and Armenian community in Georgia," it
emphasized.
Armenpress reported that the head of the Foreign Department of the
Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaishi,
on July 22 met with Prelate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Bishop
Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and discussed the attack. "The attack on the
Armenian Church of Holy Echmiadzin is unacceptable and the Georgian
Orthodox Church condemns that incident and calls on the parties for
peace and tranquility. Besides, the Georgian Church will try to
contribute to the settlement of the problem and the peaceful
coexistence of all religions," according to a statement by the
Georgian Church.
- See more at: http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/07/24/echmiadzin-condemns-attack-on-armenian-clerics-in-georgia/#sthash.KKsrrCZu.dpuf