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Op-Ed: The Failed Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate
Special to the Armenian Weekly
The neverending manipulations and power games at the Istanbul Patriarchate took a turn for the worse this past week.
In 2008, the Istanbul Patriarch, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, was diagnosed with dementia—a disease that has incapacitated him and effectively put him into a vegetative state. The cleric next in line at the Patriarchate, Archbishop Aram Ateshian, was appointed the Acting Patriarch at that time, with the expectation that unless Patriarch Mu
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Thru out our history of Armenia our clergies have been naive ,stupid and uneducated,thinking that they are priests they think of themselves beeing the kings of Armenia and that everybody have to listen to them. During Vartan Mamikonian it was a clergy that convinced Vartan to wage war against a 100 000 persian soldiers,and what happened we got destroyed and lost our lands just for a useless religion we became slaves to the Persians.Then during the Kingdom of Ani, it was again an armenian clergy who betrayed our king and gave the secret passage into the city to the Byzantium army to destroy the city.In 1915 it was again our clergy who listen to the Turks and had every one in the villages who were ready to fight and protect their family to give up their guns to the Turks and then we got cut up like a bunch of chikens .I am sorry to say but many of our armenian priests have betrayed us thru out history.
Your historical facts are incorrect…Vartan Mamigonian waged war to keep our identity alive who only less than 50 years before started its Golden Age with our alphabet.
In 1915 clergy were the first to be slaughtered so much so there were only 2 bishops left from the house of cilicia and practically no clergy left to even inaugurate a new catholicos.
Clergy in small numbers throughout our history were responsible for our nations identity such as mesrob mashdots and Khrimian hayrig, der vartan during Khanasor and ghevond yerets during vartanank…the recent clergy i’m not to thrilled about I agree…but dont put all rotten apples along with the good ones to spoil them all.
Thank you for your report,although it is bad news in many ways, it is news and that is better than a vacuum.
It is difficult to live under tyranny and remain hopeful but one lone voice in that church may light many beacons.
So, what is the ARF doing to foster democracy within the Armenian community in Istanbul? On one page of the Weekly we read that the ARF is engaged in showmanship, attending the HDP conference, to show its solidarity with that party to foster democracy in Turkey. Here,the Weekly,publishes an Op Ed on the lack of democracy in the process to elect a new patriarch. The ARF remains a powerless opportunistic clique of wannabees.
Armenian priests are one of the main reasons for our homeland’s current state. They have always been davadjan!
“In 2008, the Istanbul Patriarch, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, was diagnosed with dementia”— I read in an article where this affliction was “sudden”. I don’t remember hearing about medical help or what has happened to him. Did he die?