Catholicos of All Armenians will not participate in opening of Agdamar ChurchMarch 27, 2007 - 14:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin the Second will not be present at the opening ceremony of the Holy Cross Church on Agdamar island. The Press Office of the Holy Echmiadzin informed the PanARMENIAN.Net journalist that refusal from participation in the opening is explained by the fact that the restored church will be used as a museum and not as an acting church under the jurisdiction of Constantinople Patriarchy. "The opening of the Holy Cross Church will be held in accordance with secular canons and not the Regulations of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and that is why Echmiadzin will not participate in the ceremony," says the statement of the Holy Echmiadzin. At the same time Holy Echmiadzin noted that actions of Turkish authorities is aimed against Christian feelings of Armenian nation and cannot be viewed as a positive step towards approaching Armenian and Turkish people. Van Governor Mehmet Niyazi Tanılır sent an invitation to the Catholicos of All Armenians via RA MFA. Currently 44 churches work under the jurisdiction of Constantinople Patriarchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, most of which are in Istanbul. At the beginning of the 20th century three years prior to the Armenian Genocide the number of working churches in Turkey exceeded 3000. Now almost all of them are either destroyed or blown up. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |