On November 19, the Armenian St. Gevork of Mughni Church in Tbilisi collapsed after years of neglect. “If nothing is done, the next to collapse will be St. Nishan’s,” declared Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia. St Gevork of Mughni was built in 1356. It had a large dome and three smaller domes along three sides of the structure. One was used as the belfry.

The large main dome collapsed into the middle of the church. The collapse caused damage to surrounding transport vehicles but luckily there no fatalities. The church hadn’t been functioning and was also closed during the Soviet era, first serving as an ethnographic museum. It was declared unsafe in the early 1990’s and closed to the public. In 1763, St Gevork’s was chronicled as one of the seven churches of Tiflis included in the Diocese of Haghpat. The western belfry was constructed in 1789. The church was sacked by the Persians in 1795 but due to the efforts of Father Grigor Ter-Shmavonyan, the archpriest, some church items were saved. Partial renovations to the church were made during 1852-1893. The graves of editor-pedagogue Nikoghayos Vtoryan, benefactor Barsegh Hovsepyan, and several servants of the church are to be found in the courtyard. Primate Vazgen Mirzakhanyan told “Hetq” that the church had sent an urgent letter to the Georgian prime minister and parliamentary president, which states - “By not resolving the issues of the church, the return of some and the legal status problem, the Georgian authorities are indirectly aiding and abetting the destruction of Armenian cultural monuments in Georgia.” In a statement issued on the day that St. Gevork’s collapsed, the Armenian Diocese of Georgia wrote, “We’re of the opinion that the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monuments Preservation must shoulder the responsibility for all this. The impression is created that the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and government authorities, by not resolving the return of our churches and by not paying sufficient attention to the preservation of those churches, are intentionally out to destroy important Armenian cultural monuments.” If the Holy See of Etchmiadzin had been trying to resolve these issue through negotiation and in the framework of “neighborly relations, the day after St. Gevork’s collapsed, the Holy See’s Supreme Religious Council convened under the leadership of Catholicos Garegin II and issued a fairly accusatory statement to the effect that all such attempts had been futile. “The uncalled for foot-dragging displayed by the Georgians in the resolution process has resulted in the collapse of St. Gevork’s and thus, the entire responsibility must be assumed by the Georgian government and the Georgian Orthodox Church.” The Supreme Religious Council also declared that the policy of neglect shown by the Georgian government regarding the preservation of Armenian sacred sites lay well outside the framework of the development of “friendly relations”, flew in the face of adhering to human values, and disgraced the proclamations made by the Georgian government respecting the rights of national minorities and the preservation of their cultural inheritance and their obligations before world public opinion. Van Bayboudyan, an Armenian advisor to the Georgian president, specifically stressed the fact that the church hadn’t been functioning. “Those that say that the church was destroyed are exaggerating things. They are talking as if it was a functioning church, but it hadn’t been since 1992. Of course, it was a historic example of church architecture, but not a functioning one,” Mr. Bayboudyan noted. The anxiety and tension over the plight of Armenian cultural monuments and churches in Georgia gathered steam after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Armenian side asserts that the Georgian authorities have not only exercised neglect when it comes to Armenian historic and cultural sites in Georgia, but that they are complicit in their Georgification and/or destruction. The matter of the legal return of six Armenian churches to the Armenian Diocese, dating back to the Soviet era, still remains unresolved. The Tbilisi churches in this category are – St. Norashen (15th c.), St. Nshan (18th c.), Holy Mother of God of Shamkhor, also known as Karmir Avetaran (18th c.), St. Minas of Yerevan (18th c.) and St. Gevork of Mughni (14th c.). Then there is St. Nshan’s (19th c.) located in Akhaltskha, region of Samtskhe-Javakhk. The Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate has proclaimed these churches “questionable” as to ownership and on this basis justifies their not being returned to the Armenian Diocese. In addition, we should note that St. Gevork’s of Mughni is the second Armenian church to have collapsed in Tbilisi. The first to experience that fate was the Holy Mother of God of Shamkhor Church; reduced to ruins in 1989. The legal status of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia is still unresolved as well. Only the Georgian Orthodox Church has legal status according to Georgian law. The Armenian Diocese and the Mother See at Etchmiadzin have sent numerous queries to the Georgian authorities, the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and international organizations regarding the return of Armenian churches and the legal status issue. All dispatches to the Georgian government have gone unanswered. These problems have also been repeatedly raised in the press. Starting back in May of 2008, violations were registered against St. Norashen in Tiflis. On November 16, 2008, Father Tariel Sikijelashvili, of the Georgian Orthodox Church, began to remove grave stones of the Tamamshyan family from the courtyard, claiming that he was merely cleaning up the church grounds. The Armenian community in Georgia raised a hue and cry over the incident; Many top government officials also expressed their displeasure. On December 9, 2008, RoA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited St. Norashen. After a long hiatus, candles once again were lit inside and Armenian prayers echoed within the walls. One would have thought that all outstanding issues would soon be resolved. There again was talk about an inter-governmental commission to study the matter of church ownership. However, Archbishop Mirzakhanyan confesses that no progress has been made in this direction to date. Rumors began to circulate in the press that the Georgian Parliament was drafting new legislation on religion and that the return of the churches and the legal status issue would be resolved as a result. Georgian presidential advisor Van Baybouryan and Georgian MP Armen Bayandouryan were aware of the new draft legislation. Mr. Baybouryan revealed that the bill should have been presented to the parliament by December of last year, but that it was never finalized and never received a hearing. “Work is still proceeding on the bill. Both the Georgian government and various international organizations want the bill to become law,” Mr. Baybouryan claimed. Armen Bayandouryan asserted, “We will definitely pass that law. It just hasn’t reached the floor of the parliament yet. I can’t say anything about the deadline but it’s going to pass; rest assured.” Primate Mirzakhanyan , however, dismissed that claim. “It’s all a pack of lies. The government deceived us when they said there was this new bill. We spoke to the deputy speaker of the parliament not 4 days ago. He told us that no such piece of legislation existed and that the parliament wasn’t even contemplating any new religious law.” Until the return of the Armenian churches takes place, the Armenian Diocese is not authorized to carry out any renovations or other construction activities on these “questionable” structures. Furthermore, the Diocese must also receive permission for work on the churches already in its jurisdiction. “We even had problems repairing our own churches. I’m talking about repairs to St. Etchmiadzin. Legally, we had no right because there were no ownership documents. This means that we can’t conduct any experimental work. They won’t even allow us to approach those churches not operating, let alone do anything, since they haven’t legally been returned to us,” Archbishop Mirzakhanyan stated. The Armenian Diocese has, on numerous occasions, petitioned the Georgian authorities – either return the churches or carry out much needed repairs to those in need. This past spring, Primate Mirzakhanyan met with Minister of Reintegration Affairs, T. Yakobashvili. The Georgian official declared that the government would adopt legislation allowing for repairs on St. Norashen. That promise was also never kept. “We’re really in an absurd situation. No one   actually knows what to make of the situation. We have reached out to various international organizations, but nothing has changed. Our youth staged a protest outside the cultural ministry last year. It was met by silence. We have since lost hope and don’t know what to do,” said the head of the Armenian Church in Georgia. A similar protest was staged in Yerevan. On November 24, a group of young people marched to the United Nations office and handed over a list of complaints. They then marched to the Georgian Embassy with their demands. “We suggested another option to them; for a contract to be signed between the institution and the government. It’s something that’s quite common in Europe. They said, ‘we’ll think about it’. I don’t know what will happen,” says Archbishop Mirzakhanyan. Residents next to St. Gevork of Mughni have proposed carting off the remains of the church. They have petitioned the Agency of Monument Preservation, Restoration and Monitoring  at  the Georgian Cultural Ministry that is now examining the site of the church collapse and removing its fallen remains. Agency Coordinator Kristineh Darchinyan told “Hetq” that the reconstruction of the church will begin next year if their studies show such a project is doable. “Since it wasn’t a functioning church and it was closed for a long time, we never paid it the attention it deserved. Tragically, we have many Georgian churches facing a similar plight. Proper attention is paid if the church is functioning. Otherwise, the government can’t maintain proper upkeep,” says Kristineh Darchinyan, stressing that adequate financing is at the root of the problem. “We will see to it that the church is rebuilt.  A budget will be devised and work will commence next year,” Kristineh Darchinyan asserted. According to Primate Mirzakhanyan, the western base of the church supporting the belfry is still stable and can be restored. “If they tear it down, we’ll lose it all. There is still hope that even in a ruined state the church will be returned to us. We’ll come up with a solution,” Archbishop Mirzakhanyan states. Presently, there are two functioning Armenian churches in Tbilisi; St. Gevork and St. Etchmiadzin. Renovations on St. Etchmiadzin will be completed in a month. St. Nshan is located in the same neighborhood as St Gevork of Mughni and lies a stone’s throw from the ruins. It too is unstable and in need of urgent work. While true that Coordinator Darchinyan knew about St. Nshan’s, she didn’t know anything about its condition. Given that it too isn’t a “working” church, she wasn’t too hopeful regarding any assistance forthcoming. Given that religious legislation reaching the Georgian Parliament is still up in the air, the fate of these and other Armenian churches in Georgia remains a mystery as well.