Issue 1748| September 25 – October 1, 2020
BY APPO JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine (English-language print edition)
USA Armenian Life E-Newsletter (Electronic Distribution — e-blast)
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language print edition)
USA Armenian LifeFACEBOOK
www.armenianlif.com
On Friday Sept. 25, BBC.COM reported that a high-ranking Vatican official Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has unexpectedly resigned but has revealed he was told to do so by Pope Francis.
He said he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers, and denied any wrongdoing.
Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to the Pope and previously had a key job in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.
He became involved in a controversial deal to invest in a luxury London building with Church funds.
That investment has since been the subject of a financial investigation.
Resignations at this level of the Vatican are extremely rare and the Holy See said little in its communique released late on Thursday.
“The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu,” a statement said.
But the cardinal, 72, told Italian website Domani he was being forced out because he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers. “I didn’t steal even one euro. I am not under investigation but if they send me to trial, I will defend myself,” he was quoted as saying.
Speaking later at a news conference, the cardinal said his removal had come “like a bolt out of the blue”. He said the Pope “was suffering” when he delivered the news.
“It’s all surreal. Up until yesterday… I felt I was a friend of the Pope, the faithful executor of the Pope.
“Then the Pope told me that he no longer had faith in me because he got a report from magistrates that I committed an act of misappropriation.”
Cardinal Becciu insisted there had been “a misunderstanding”, adding: “I am ready to explain everything to the Pope. I have not done anything wrong.”
If proven guilty in a court of magistrates (judges) in Italy, Cardinal Becciu will be forever forced out of office.
Worldwide Catholic Church parishioners must feel blessed for having a true spiritual leader and a courageous top administrator in the person of His Holiness Pope Francis.
Armenian Apostolic Church parishioners worldwide are not as blessed because their (pope) Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II is a corrupt individual. Karekin II is also a former KGB agent who has served under Soviet Communism and has a checkered record with numerous nefarious acts and a litany of wrongdoings. His allies starting with his blood brother Arch. Yezras of Moscow is a known pedophile and is implicated in major misappropriations of Armenian Church funds. His other partner and coleader of an international criminal cartel is Western Diocese primate Arch. Hovnan Derderian of Los Angeles. Derderian is directly involved in forgery, lying in a U.S. Court of law, theft or gross mismanagement of tens of millions of dollars in Armenian Church funds. Among many nefarious acts, in 1975 Derderian was expelled from Catholicosate of the Great of Cilicia Seminary in Lebanon. Reportedly he also served as KGB agent along with several other clergy using the Armenian Church as cover.
In the case of Armenian Apostolic Church, the laypeople or the parishioners are the ultimate boss! According to Armenian National Constitution, the Armenian Church parishioners worldwide have the democratic duty and rights to elect their delegates to the National Church Assembly that elects the Armenian (pope). It’s the same elected body — mostly consisted of laypeople, that has the constitutional powers to force corrupt high and any level clergy out of office. They can even force an Armenian Catholicos (pope) out of office.
In that regards, they have an excellent track record. Over a dozen corrupt Armenian popes have been dethroned and even defrocked saving the Armenian Church from destruction.
Is the day nearing for the constitutionally-mandated ouster of Karekin II, Hovnan Derderian and their corrupt lay leading allies? The Armenian Church By-Laws authorizes the laypeople to do just that! Many parishioners insist that “It’s not a question of ‘if’ it’s a question of ‘when!’”