Fr. Asoghik Karapetyan details his nearly six-hour interrogation over “Holy Spear”

ArmInfo. Hieromonk Asoghik Karapetyan, Director of the Museums and Archives at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, addressed the press on January 14 following his nearly six-hour interrogation at the Investigative  Committee of Armenia.

Recall, this concerns a criminal case related to an allegedly damaged  spear (in Armenian, “spear” is known as a Geghard), which, according  to tradition, pierced Jesus Christ. “The Geghard is safe, unharmed,  and secure, and is at the Mother See of Etchmiadzin. Everything being  said is a lie, slander, and I don’t understand why this  misinformation is being spread,” Karapetyan stated.

Regarding claims that a piece of the spear was donated to the Russian  Orthodox Church, the hieromonk clarified that it is common for  Christian churches to exchange relics “This is the Church’s exclusive  right.  The Church decides, and the Church gives. It knows what and  how it gives, and how the sacred relic, which has been kept in the  Armenian world since the first century, is preserved as a result. We  have already explained this matter. We have donated only a replica of  Geghard.” He added that similar high-quality models are even  available in the church’s souvenir shops.