By decision of an investigator, the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II was not allowed to travel to Georgia to attend the funeral of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. This was announced on Facebook by lawyer Ara Zohrabyan.

He described the investigator’s decision as “another unlawful act damaging the country’s reputation.”

“As you know, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II has passed away. An invitation was received from the Georgian Orthodox Church to attend the funeral ceremony and the Divine Liturgy to be held on March 22.

At this moment of great grief for the brotherly people, it would have been appropriate for the Catholicos of All Armenians to participate in the church ceremonies.

Therefore, it was necessary to allow the Catholicos of All Armenians to leave the Republic of Armenia for a few days to travel to Georgia.

In this regard, I submitted a motion to the investigator. Today, I received the investigator’s decision rejecting the motion.

I regret this, but it is yet another clearly unlawful decision that will seriously damage our country’s reputation,” the lawyer wrote.

A travel ban has been imposed on the Supreme Patriarch as a preventive measure.

Metropolitan of Akhalkalaki, Kumurdo and Kari Nikoloz Pachuashvili stated that the Patriarchate had sent invitations to senior clergy worldwide to attend the funeral of Ilia II. He noted that Karekin II had expressed a desire to travel to Georgia to participate in the ceremony. Ilia II will be buried on March 22.

On February 14, it became known that Armenia’s Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against Karekin II on charges of failing to comply with a court ruling in a case involving the former head of the Masis diocese, and imposed a ban on his departure from Armenia.