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FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0056
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000102 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2019 
TAGS: PREL KIRF SCUL GG AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS OPEN TO DIALOGUE ON CHURCHES 
WITH GEORGIA 
 
REF: A. 09 YEREVAN 882 
     ¶B. 09 YEREVAN 844 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.  Reason 1.4 (B/D) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the 
Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), told the Ambassador that the 
AAC is willing to participate in a joint commission with the 
Georgian Orthodox Church and others to discuss the historical 
ownership of a number of disputed churches in Georgia, as 
long as both sides can agree on an agenda for the commission 
and timeline for resolution of the ownership issues.  The 
Catholicos added that he is also willing to include in the 
discussion churches now claimed by the Georgians in Armenia. 
Finally, he told the Ambassador that she could share this 
information with Embassy Tbilisi. We also believe that it 
would be useful if the Georgian Patriarch would invite the 
Catholicos to Georgia for a visit.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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CATHOLICOS AGREES TO PARTICIPATE IN JOINT COMMISSION 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassador Yovanovitch met with His Holiness, Karekin 
II, the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church  on 
February 17 to discuss the situation of the ethnic Armenian 
religious minority in Georgia.  The Catholicos relayed that 
the Armenian Bishop in Tbilisi and Vahan Baybortian, an 
ethnic Armenian who is an advisor to President Saakashvili, 
met late last year with the Patriarch to discuss the AAC's 
legal standing, the return of the six disputed churches (or 
at least GOG allocation of funds to maintain the churches 
until the dispute is resolved), and the desire of the 
Catholicos to visit the Armenian community in Georgia.  The 
Catholicos -- who whipped out a cell phone from his cassock 
to call and confirm the details with the Bishop -- said the 
meeting produced no answers on the first and second items and 
on the matter of the Catholicos' travel to Georgia, the 
Patriarch said that he would personally invite the Catholicos 
- although no invitation has been forthcoming to date. 
 
¶3. (C) The Catholicos said that the Bishop and Baybortian did 
not raise the idea of a joint commission to address the 
disputed church issue and neither did the Patriarch.  The 
Ambassador inquired whether the AAC would be willing to 
participate in a joint commission to study the historical 
ownership of those churches.  The Catholicos agreed that the 
AAC would participate in such a commission if there was a 
defined agenda and a definite timeline.  He also stated that 
he would agree, if the Georgian Orthodox Church wanted to 
place on the agenda the disputed churches in northern 
Armenia.  The Catholicos believes they are Chalcedonian 
Armenian Churches, although they are not working churches. 
They are considered to be historic sites and are owned by the 
GOAM, but the Catholicos said that if the Georgian Church 
could show proof of ownership, he would personally assist the 
Georgian Church in reclaiming them.  Finally, the Catholicos 
agreed that the Ambassador should share with Embassy Tbilisi 
the information that the AAC is prepared to participate in a 
joint commission. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
NO MOVEMENT ON RENOVATION OF DISPUTED CHURCHES 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (C) The Catholicos expressed frustration over the 
condition of churches claimed by the AAC in Georgia.  The 
Catholicos said that many of these churches are in danger of 
collapse, (and in fact the St. Gevork of Mughni Armenian 
church did collapse last November (ref B)), but because the 
churches are owned by the Government of Georgia (GOG), the 
AAC is unable to undertake restoration work to prevent their 
further deterioration.  The Catholicos said the AAC owns only 
two churches in Tbilisi: St. Gevork, which serves as the seat 
of the Diocese, and Holy Etchmiadzin, where the AAC recently 
spent over $700,000 in renovations.  (Note: AAC "ownership" 
of these two churches is not in the strictly legal sense, as 
there is no document conferring such ownership.  However, the 
two churches were the only Armenian churches in Georgia 
allowed to operate during Soviet times, and the Georgian 
authorities have continued to permit the AAC to use and 
refurbish them since independence. End note.) He pointed out 
that ethnic Armen 
ians in Samtskhe-Javakheti use their own money to repair 
disputed churches and then hold services in them, without 
asking for official permission.  The Catholicos considers 
this an unsatisfactory - and risky - way of operating. 
 
¶5.  (C) The Catholicos said he is skeptical that the Georgian 
Government will follow through on its promises to repair the 
St. Gevork of Mughni Armenian church.  He said the Bishop of 
Georgia informed him, that there are no GOG blueprints yet 
 
YEREVAN 00000102  002 OF 002 
 
 
for the for the restoration and, in any case, the Government 
does not have money in its budget to perform the necessary 
work. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
GEORGIAN CHURCH, PATRIARCH PERSONALLY, SEEN AS MAJOR OBSTACLES 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (C) The Catholicos believes the primary obstacle to 
resolving the religious issues of the ethnic Armenians in 
Georgia is the Georgian Orthodox Church, which exercises what 
he sees as undue influence on the Georgian government.  It is 
regrettable, the Catholicos said, that the Georgian Church 
has become more conservative in the past few years, and he 
does not have much hope that progress can be made with the 
current Patriarch, who opposes granting equal religious 
status to minority religious groups.  The Catholicos 
maintains it would be easier for the GOG to solve the 
registration and church ownership issues through a 
presidential decree or similar executive order rather than 
trying to pass a law in parliament.  He believed that the 
Georgian Church would dissuade parliamentarians from taking 
action to give status to minority churches in Georgia. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  The disputed church issue is clearly a difficult one 
for both countries and both churches, but we believe that it 
is a positive step that the Armenian Apostolic Church has 
agreed to participate in a commission, agreed to the presumed 
Georgian request to discuss the churches in northern Armenia, 
and agreed that Ambassador could pass this message to Embassy 
Tbilisi.  The Armenian Church wants a defined agenda and 
timeline, which seems reasonable.  The composition of the 
commission will also be a key question, since both 
governments and both churches will need to participate in 
order to resolve the question. However, at least in Armenia, 
it is the church that will play the decisive role and the 
government will likely go along with whatever the church 
decides.  Finally, we believe that it would be positive if 
the Patriarch would invite the Catholicos to visit Georgia. 
END COMMENT. 
YOVANOVITCH