Scandal in Israel: Patriarch Nourhan Manoogian terrorizes Armenian community of Jerusalem
Posted on February. 22. 2022
BY MIHRAN KALAYJIAN
Secretive real estate deals in the Holy Land are putting one of Jerusalem’s most powerful and ancient churches in the spotlight. The Armenian Orthodox Church calls itself the second-largest landowner in Israel, after the Israeli government. It says it owns some 30 percent of Jerusalem’s walled Old City, the city’s historic core, and controls the largest stake of any Christian denomination in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, home to the traditional tomb of Jesus. It also owns lands throughout Jerusalem, Israel and the West Bank.
But in recent years, church leaders have quietly sold off several properties to anonymous investors fronted by companies registered in far-flung tax havens. Israeli and Jewish businessmen were later identified as some of the buyers. These deals have only recently become public, raising panic among Israelis whose apartments are built on church land and leading to small but growing public protests by some Palestinian church members.
The church leadership is dominated by Armenian and Greek nationals, but the church’s local following is largely Palestinian. Some Palestinians are worried about possible implications for their quest for independence.
The question of landownership strikes at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian tug of war over Jerusalem. Israel captured East Jerusalem, whose holy sites include the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Western Wall, in 1967. But the Palestinians demand that part of the city as the capital of a future independent state.
Ironically, these same Church leaders had just a month earlier flown into a tizzy over quite the opposite, when Israeli officials yet again upheld a land sale that the priests had come to regret.
The controversial land deals have come to light in waves over recent years. One document attributed to an internal sector of the Church recorded at least 20 plots of land or property sold or leased over the last 10 years, earning the church more than $100 million.
Some fear that investors with deep pockets and ideological ambitions — Israelis wanting a toehold in a Palestinian area of the city, Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem, or vice versa — might pressure a church into selling a property, giving Israelis or Palestinians one more win in the real estate battle for control in the city.
As the public learns more about the Armenian Orthodox Church’s holdings, it has opened a Pandora’s box of worries about the city’s future — because other churches own lands and properties in Jerusalem.
The “Goveroun Bardez” agreement was signed without being discussed and ratified by the Holy Synod and the General Assembly of the Brotherhood. This is unconstitutional because it ignores the “Bylaws” article 67, which places all real estate decisions under the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod. The agreement also disregarded the unified General Assembly’s ratification which thrice voted (2002, 2006, and 2015) that “Agreements covering a period of one to twenty-five years should be ratified by the Holy Synod and agreements for twenty-five to forty-nine years be presented by the Holy Synod to the General Assembly for ratification.”
Moreover, according to the article adopted in 2015, “Agreements covering a period of one to twenty-five years must be signed by a minimum of three persons: His Beatitude the Patriarch (in case of vacancy of the Holy See, the Patriarchal Vicar or Vice Patriarch), the Grand Sacristan, the Chairman of the Holy Synod and by the Director of the Real Estate Department, whereas from twenty-five years to a maximum of forty-nine years real estate agreements must be signed by a minimum of three persons: His Beatitude the Patriarch (in case of vacancy of the Holy See, by the Patriarchal Vicar or Vice Patriarch), the Grand Sacristan, Chairman of the General Assembly as well as Chairman of the Holy Synod. The signatures of the Patriarch (or Patriarchal Vicar), the Chairman of the General Assembly are binding and mandatory.”
The agreement on the “Goveroun Bardez” was signed not only by the Patriarch “Nourhan Manoogian” and the Grand Sacristan “ Archbishop Sevan Gharibian”, but also by the director of the real estate department “ Baret Yeretzian”, which is contrary to the above article. The real estate director is never allowed to sign twenty-six to forty-nine-year contracts, let alone a 99-year contract.
After signing the above agreement, Director of Real Estate Department Very Rev. Fr. Baret Yeretsian, without the prior knowledge of the Patriarch, posted several statements on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page in which he asserted that the Holy Synod and the General Assembly had given their consent and blessing to the transaction.
Through this correspondence, we would like to inform you that these statements have no basis in fact. Neither the Holy Synod nor the General Assembly has heard of this (“Goveroun Bardez”) deal. The two supreme bodies of the Holy See, the Holy Synod, and the General Assembly have never discussed or given their consent or blessing to the signing of the above-mentioned agreement.
In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the Holy See of Jerusalem is a pan-Armenian asset, and it has been under the attention and care of all Armenians for many centuries. The selfless sacrifices of the clergy of the Holy See, as well as that of the entire Armenian people, (with their moral and financial support), contribute to its continued existence and preservation. Therefore, this sacred heritage must be handled with the utmost care and responsibility, always upholding the charter of the Holy See so as not to undermine its centuries’-old course and pass it on to future generations.
“We condemn this behavior and we demand the resignation of those behind this deal.”