The Armenian Apostolic Church has said the indifference of the Georgian authorities towards the preservation of Armenian churches led to the collapse of St Gevorg's medieval church in Tbilisi.
The High Religious Council, a consultative body of clergymen and laymen, confirmed at a meeting presided over by Catholicos Garegin II that the Armenian Church of St Gevorg (George), built in 1356, had collapsed in Tbilisi on 19 November.
The council stated with regret that “the efforts of the Armenian authorities and Holy Echmiadzin to settle the status of the eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church as a legal entity and to return Armenian temples in Georgia to the Armenian Apostolic Church through negotiations have proved ineffective”.
“The indifference of the Georgian authorities to the preservation of Armenian temples does not comply with the statements of the Georgian authorities and obligations assumed before the international community on the establishment of neighbourly relations, adherence to general values, respect for the rights of national minorities in the country and the preservation of their cultural and historical heritage,” the council statement reads.
The council called on the Georgian authorities and Georgian Apostolic Church to take immediate action to grant legal status to the eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia and to return the Armenian churches in Georgia to the eparchy so that they can ensure the preservation of Armenian churches.
PanARMENIAN.Net