Armenians’ presence in Georgia vital for Armenia's strength – prelate
The preservation of the Armenian national identity is vital absolutely everywhere, especially in Georgia and its Armenian-populated region of Javakhk, says Archimandrite Babken Salibyan, the vicar-general of the Armenian prelacy of Javakhk (Georgia's Samtskhe-Javakheti region).
“Georgia is a friend and an ally which is home to about 500,000 Armenians, so the Armenians’ presence here is the pledge of the Republic of Armenia’s strength,” he told Tert.am, commenting on the Georgian-Armenian community’s role in the strengthening of the Armenian statehood.
He said that the national identity’s preservation is the task of not only the church but also the community. “Youth center’s open every day to encourage upbringing in the Armenian spirit. Some ten years ago, perhaps, it would have been ridiculous to think about opening centers of the kind. Quite a lot of centers have been launched by the church to gather together our children,” the clergyman added.
Mr Salibyan further addressed the language preservation issue. “It is highly important for us to have Armenian granted the status of a second state language. I don’t know to what extent it is feasible, but Armenians must be able to speak a state language,” he said, noting that most Armenian schools in Georgia have Armenian history as a selective course on their curricula.
“Our children are not familiar with their history, so it is with the help of such centers that we are trying to teach what Armenian history is,” the archimandrite said, adding that earlier proposals for teaching the Armenian church history never met approval. “They said the Armenian church history will be taught in Armenian schools when the history of Georgian church is taught in the schools of Georgia.”
Asked why then the Georgian history is a compulsory subject in schools, Mr Salibyan cited the state policies requiring that all citizens of Georgia know the subject. “We have 132 Armenian schools in Javakhk, where Armenian history is taught as a selective subject – maximum two or three academic hours per day. And it’s up to the children to decide whether or not to join those classes,” he added.
Asked about the shortage of literature, the clergyman said they are trying to bridge te that gaps with the help of textbooks sent from Armenia. “Certain textbooks, of course, are published in Georgia in a translated format, but the books for first-graders, for instance, contain no more information about Armenian writers. Most are Georgian authors translated into Armenian, which, I think, is wrong,” he added.
Commenting on the church’s role, Mr Salibyan said he thinks that it can be best revealed through a comparison between the districts which have an Armenian church and those which haven’t.
“The church’s role and the spiritual life, in general, was very little about 10-13 years ago; it didn’t almost exist. Supreme [Patriarch] Garegin II made a very wise decision by launching the prelacy of Javakhk. Today we have about 30-35 re-opened churches; religious life has become more active, gathering people together around the church. The church’s presence awakened the people. It’s not only for the [preservation] of national culture, educational and other matters that people stand by the church; that’s why we are progressing, building our future together,” he added.
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