Vaհe H Apelian
Pope Francis 2021, Aliyev 2024-Courtesy Wikipedia
Armenians world-wide welcomed pope Francis to Armenia with gratitude. Quoting Wikipedia “Pope Francis visited Armenia in June 2016. The trip focused on ecumenical relations, reconciliation, and remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. He arrived in Yerevan on Friday, June 24th, and his itinerary included visiting the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial, holding an outdoor Ecumenical Service and Peace Prayer in Republic Square, and meeting with the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II. The visit also included a meeting with the Armenian Catholic bishops and participation in a Divine Liturgy in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.”
 |
| Personal Armenia stamp collection |
It turns out, a few months after visiting Armenia the globe-trotter Pope Francis, paid a short, ten hours long visit to Baku as well. There must have been something pressing for the pope to pay such a short, business-like visit to Baku. Alluding to the visit, Eurasianet - see the link below - reported that “At first glance, Azerbaijan, a predominantly Shia Muslim state, seems an unlikely destination for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. But Pope Francis’ 10-hour visit to Baku on October 2 was not so much about religion as it was about PR payback.”
Is that so?
Unlike Pope Francis visiting Armenia to foster ecumenical relations between Catholic and Orthodox churches, Pope Francis' Baku visit was a PR payback business visit. It was not an ecumenical visit. It was not in support of Christians in Azerbaijan or for the preservation of churches, monasteries, and Christian monuments in Azerbaijan. Armenia, the first nation to accept Christianity as its state religion, need not have pope visiting it to bolster the Christian faith in Armenia or for the preservation of the many churches, monasteries, and Christian monuments in Armenia.
But why would the head of over 1 billion Catholics pay such short, business like visit to Baku as a PR payback? What PR? What payback?
Eurasianet article explains it further by noting that “Since 2012, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, run by Azerbaijan’s first lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, has donated undisclosed sums to finance restoration work at the Vatican, including repairs to the Sistine Chapel. The Foundation, named in honor of President Ilham Aliyev’s father and predecessor, the late Heydar Aliyev, also has provided funds for other projects, including the restoration of two Vatican catacombs and the preservation and digitization of ancient manuscripts in the Apostolic Library.”
Obviously, Pope Francis and president Ilham Aliyev’s “l scratch your back, if you scratch mine” reciprocal agreement had been going since, at least 2012. This “quid pro quo” coziness had been going on way before Pope Francis visited Armenia in 2016. Of course, Pope Francis knew a warring state existed between the Armenians of Nakorno Karabagh Oblast, and oil rich and much more populated Azerbaijan. But the pope chose to keep a total silence on the existential conflict between Armenia and the Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabagh Oblast were facing. The film "Two Popes" makes a special note of the Argentinian Jesuit Bishop, who would become the working Pope Francis, dealing evasively with the junta at the time.
As far as Armenians are concerned, not only the pope did not mediate in any way, in fact he legitimized Azerbaijan genocidal aims against the native Armenian inhabitants. By. doing so, Pope Francis became complicit in the genocidal depopulation of the Christian Armenians from their native lands, surely not by commission but by omission.
But in the greater scheme of things, Pope Francis is no exception, when it comes to the all-redeeming power of the all-mighty dollars, while he dispenses Heavenly Father’s redemption as God's temporal representative on this earth. His predecessor granted dispensation to heaven for a fee. After all, the pope holds the keys to Kingdom of Heaven, as featured in the Vatican's flag and coat of arms. Apparently, these same keys open doors for lucrative venues as well.
The link: Azerbaijan: Papal RR Pays Off:
The urgent question is: What are our catholic Armenian brothers intend to do towards their spiritual leader. Do they still consider the so called pope an honest Christian leader?
ReplyDeleteA friend wrote me the following: "I apologize if I am projecting. How many Apostolic Armenians and Catholic Armenians know the canonical differences between Apostolic and Catholic Churches? All I know is that the two Churches are in disagreement about the nature of Christ. An argument by the churchmen of the Dark Ages should not separate us in the 21st century. The Vatican is one of the world's biggest corporations and the landlord of billions of acres, churches, etc. Corruption is endemic in the Catholic Church. No examples of the corruption are necessary since we have all seen the headlines over the years. The Pope's WOKE attitude and his promotion of a country which wants to erase our homeland is good reason for Catholic Armenians to consider abandoning the mercenary Vatican"
ReplyDelete