TBILISI (ArmRadio)—The Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church will apply to the Office of the State Register of Georgia for legal registration, based on a law adopted last year, which provides a status of legal entity to five religious entities in Georgia, including the Armenian Apostolic Church.
If the registration is granted by the Georgian authorities, the Diocese will have legal rights.
“We will apply to the Georgian Government with the request to return all our churches,” Primate of the Georgian Diocese Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan told ArmRadio.
He said that a commission of experts from Armenia’s Ministry of Culture was holding meetings with corresponding bodies of Georgia to discuss the state of St. Nshan Church, which was damaged by a fire earlier this week.
A fire broke out in the 18th century Saint Nshan Armenian Apostolic Church in Tbilisi on January 9, causing a column supporting the already damaged dome to topple.
The Georgian Patriarchate, the Tbilisi City Hall, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection have been informed of the incident and promised to investigate. Saint Nshan Church in the center of Tbilisi was built in 1701.
If history is any indication, Georgians are not trustworthy and are to be watched closely. These “Christian” arsonist terrorists are trying to topple the Armenian church intentionally (with arson) as was discovered by an Armenian scientist. For 300 years the church probably never saw any fire, and now all of a sudden one fire after another after the Georgians decided to lay claim on historic Armenian churches and put their dirty paws on Armenian properties.
Respecting the rights of the Armenians of Georgia is good for Georgia’s soul and its future.
Trying to assimilate the Armenians may please the totalitarian, fascist segment in Georgian society – and it is disheartening to see that their church is a “charter member” of this camp – but sooner or later there’s bound to be a reaction from the Armenian side, which will not benefit their country as a whole. (The cases of Abkhazia and South Ossetia cannot be ignored.) The main danger for patriotic Georgians is the process, well underway, of the subjugation of their country to Turkey – Azerbaijan domination.