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24.11.2009 11:25
 His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during a meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Discussed during the meeting was the collapse of the St. Gevork of Mughni Armenian Church in the Diocese of Georgia. At the end of the meeting, the following statement was released:
The Supreme Spiritual Council regrets to confirm that the St. Gevork of Mughni Armenian Church (built in 1356) in Tbilisi, Georgia, has collapsed.
The Supreme Spiritual Council regretfully states that years of effort on the part of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, to regulate the legal standing of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia and secure the return of Armenian churches, through dialogue with the authorities of the Republic of Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church, were unsuccessful. The collapse of the St. Gevork of Mughni Armenian Church is only one of the consequences of the unwarranted delays exhibited by the Georgian side in the handling of the aforementioned issues. The authorities of the Republic of Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church are wholly responsible for the collapse of the church.
The indifference exhibited by the Georgian state toward the preservation of Armenian holy sites does not correspond in any way with: 1) the establishment of good neighborly relations, 2) fidelity to universal human values, 3) respect for the rights of ethnic minorities, 4) the constant statements made by the Georgian state regarding the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of their ethnic minorities, and 5) the Georgian state’s acceptance of responsibilities before the international community.
The Supreme Spiritual Council calls on the authorities of the Republic of Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church to immediately implement steps to grant legal status to the Armenian Diocese of Georgia and to return the Armenian churches in Georgia to the Armenian Diocese of Georgia for the normal functioning of national-ecclesiastical life for the Georgian-Armenian community and the safe preservation of Armenian holy sites.
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