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MOTHER CLAIMS DAUGHTER DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY PRIEST
Democracy & Freedom Watch
June 16 2014
by DFWatch staff | Jun 16, 2014
TBILISI, DFWatch-A mother claims a priest forced her daughter to
leave a church a few days ago because of her ethnicity. The priest
denied this.
Inna Sukiasyan, who is of Armenian origins, last week wrote on
her Facebook page and later told journalists that her ten year old
daughter went on a trip to the city with her peers. During the trip,
the children entered Sioni Church, where the girl did like the other
children, lit a candle and crossed herself.
That was when the local priest told the girl that she was incorrectly
crossing herself, but the girl explained to him that she usually
goes to an Armenian church, where she was taught how to conduct
the crossing.
"He [the priest] r told her that those who go to Armenian churches
stand far from God and don't have a right to go to Georgian churches,"
the mother says, adding that her daughter concluded that the priest
in fact was forcing her to leave and so she left the church.
The mother says her girl goes to a Georgian school, and speaks Georgian
perfectly, so she excludes the possibility that the child might have
misunderstood what the priest said.
Sukiasyan published a photo of the priest, whom she recognized to be
Davit Lasurashvili.
"Thanks to this 'priest' for the lesson he taught to my ten year old
girl - only difficulties raise a stronger Armenian," she added.
June 12, Davit Lasurashvili responded by saying that the Orthodox
Church is a place of prayer for Orthodox people where only Orthodox
are praying. But he also said that neither the child nor her mother
nor anyone else was forced to leave the church.
"What concerns the visits, many people, including Armenians, Russians,
Orthodox and non-Orthodox, come to our church, as a cathedral, take a
look inside and leave and no-one insults them or force them to leave,"
he added.
The same day, Ina Sukiasian held a press conference and said that this
is not the first time her child is separated due to her ethnicity,
but there have also been minor incidents at school involving her
classmates.
"They discuss why she doesn't wear a cross. She is asked if people
wear a cross in Armenian churches, and she always answers them."
Levon Isakhanyan, who chairs the legal department at the Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Georgia, said during the
press conference with Sukiasian that any such action may be attributed
to interethnic and inter-religious enmity.
"We are hopefully expecting the Patriarchate [the Georgian Orthodox
Church, ed.] to observe their position, what they will say about
discriminatory attitude of this certain cleric," he said, adding that
the Georgian Church should publicly condemn any type of discrimination
from its own representatives.
"God created humans, not separate representatives of different
religions," he said.
The Georgian Church has not officially responded.
Mikael Botkoveli, Secretary of the Catholicos Patriarch, told online
newspaper netgazeti.ge that he doesn't believe the cleric at Sioni
Church forced a churchgoer from an Armenian church to leave.
He said, according to his information, the priest saw a girl
incorrectly crossing herself, but didn't know that the girl was
Armenian. The priest gave her a remark saying that Orthodox do not
cross like this.
"Any priest can do the same. Later it turned out that the child wasn't
Orthodox. Any person has a right to enter the church and look at it,"
he said. "I don't know if anything happened afterwards."
Botkoveli says he thinks this case cannot be a subject for discussion
for the Patriarchate, since it was a local issue and has been resolved.
He says there was nothing problematic in what happened as anyone can
go inside the church and be given a remark for incorrectly crossing
and he says many people go to Sioni and the priest is not able to
find out their affiliation one by one.
http://dfwatch.net/mother-claims-daughter-discriminated-against-by-priest-96124
Democracy & Freedom Watch
June 16 2014
by DFWatch staff | Jun 16, 2014
TBILISI, DFWatch-A mother claims a priest forced her daughter to
leave a church a few days ago because of her ethnicity. The priest
denied this.
Inna Sukiasyan, who is of Armenian origins, last week wrote on
her Facebook page and later told journalists that her ten year old
daughter went on a trip to the city with her peers. During the trip,
the children entered Sioni Church, where the girl did like the other
children, lit a candle and crossed herself.
That was when the local priest told the girl that she was incorrectly
crossing herself, but the girl explained to him that she usually
goes to an Armenian church, where she was taught how to conduct
the crossing.
"He [the priest] r told her that those who go to Armenian churches
stand far from God and don't have a right to go to Georgian churches,"
the mother says, adding that her daughter concluded that the priest
in fact was forcing her to leave and so she left the church.
The mother says her girl goes to a Georgian school, and speaks Georgian
perfectly, so she excludes the possibility that the child might have
misunderstood what the priest said.
Sukiasyan published a photo of the priest, whom she recognized to be
Davit Lasurashvili.
"Thanks to this 'priest' for the lesson he taught to my ten year old
girl - only difficulties raise a stronger Armenian," she added.
June 12, Davit Lasurashvili responded by saying that the Orthodox
Church is a place of prayer for Orthodox people where only Orthodox
are praying. But he also said that neither the child nor her mother
nor anyone else was forced to leave the church.
"What concerns the visits, many people, including Armenians, Russians,
Orthodox and non-Orthodox, come to our church, as a cathedral, take a
look inside and leave and no-one insults them or force them to leave,"
he added.
The same day, Ina Sukiasian held a press conference and said that this
is not the first time her child is separated due to her ethnicity,
but there have also been minor incidents at school involving her
classmates.
"They discuss why she doesn't wear a cross. She is asked if people
wear a cross in Armenian churches, and she always answers them."
Levon Isakhanyan, who chairs the legal department at the Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Georgia, said during the
press conference with Sukiasian that any such action may be attributed
to interethnic and inter-religious enmity.
"We are hopefully expecting the Patriarchate [the Georgian Orthodox
Church, ed.] to observe their position, what they will say about
discriminatory attitude of this certain cleric," he said, adding that
the Georgian Church should publicly condemn any type of discrimination
from its own representatives.
"God created humans, not separate representatives of different
religions," he said.
The Georgian Church has not officially responded.
Mikael Botkoveli, Secretary of the Catholicos Patriarch, told online
newspaper netgazeti.ge that he doesn't believe the cleric at Sioni
Church forced a churchgoer from an Armenian church to leave.
He said, according to his information, the priest saw a girl
incorrectly crossing herself, but didn't know that the girl was
Armenian. The priest gave her a remark saying that Orthodox do not
cross like this.
"Any priest can do the same. Later it turned out that the child wasn't
Orthodox. Any person has a right to enter the church and look at it,"
he said. "I don't know if anything happened afterwards."
Botkoveli says he thinks this case cannot be a subject for discussion
for the Patriarchate, since it was a local issue and has been resolved.
He says there was nothing problematic in what happened as anyone can
go inside the church and be given a remark for incorrectly crossing
and he says many people go to Sioni and the priest is not able to
find out their affiliation one by one.
http://dfwatch.net/mother-claims-daughter-discriminated-against-by-priest-96124