Georgian-Armenian Diocese Demands the Return of 442 Churches
Georgian-Armenian Diocese Demands the Return of 442 Churches –
St. Gevorg of Mughni Church in Tbilisi, Georgia, built in 1356, collapsed in 2009, after years of neglect by the authorities to repair the historic structure.
TBILISI—The Georgian-Armenian Diocese has demanded the return of 442 churches after conducting a study into pre-Soviet archives.
It has submitted a comprehensive report to a government agency responsible for religious issues, Armenpress reports.
Speaking to the state news agency, a spokesperson for the Georgian-Armenian diocese, Susanna Khachatryan, said that an earlier list, submitted by the Georgian Government, included only the functioning churches.
“This list includes all the Armenian churches in Georgia, the functioning and bending ones and those that have been reduced to ruins or Georgianized. The diocese in that way demands the return of its own property considering that the present-day Georgian state is the Soviet Georgia’s successor. Churches are destroyed and ruined. Time leaves their imprint on them, so if no measures are taken for those constructions’ perseveration, there will be no more churches in several years,” Khachatryan said, expressing hope for a positive solution.
