Ruben Rubinyan Shares Story Involving the Leader of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan shared a story involving the leader of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia on his Facebook page.

“Last year, with a delegation I led, which included Vahagn Aleksanyan, Shirak Torosyan, and opposition member Artzvik Minasyan, we visited Georgia to participate in the latest meeting of the Armenia-Georgia friendship groups in Akhaltsikhe. It was a politically tense period in Armenia, and I am very grateful to Artzvik Minasyan for joining us in Georgia at that time, as he understood that regardless of everything, we represent a state together.

Since the Georgian side had planned for us to be received by the Archbishop of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the region (who welcomed us very graciously), I proposed to visit the Holy Cross Armenian Church in Akhalkalaki together beforehand. We did just that and found ourselves in an embarrassing situation, as the leader of the Armenian Diocese not only did not come to greet us but had also instructed other clergy not to be there. They left the church empty; this meant they had decided to carry out a political act against us.

Thus, together with our bewildered Georgian colleagues, we entered the empty church, lit a candle, and left.

Today, I read that Ktrich Nersisyan has unlawfully appointed this same leader of the Armenian Diocese as a member of the Supreme Spiritual Council. This reflects Ktrich Nersisyan's understanding of national solidarity: he has chosen not to be the Catholicos of all Armenians. He wants to be the Catholicos of only certain Armenians and therefore must vacate the Catholicos seat of all Armenians,” wrote Ruben Rubinyan.