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During the visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Baku, one of the Russian clerics denied the fact of martyrdom of St. Bartholomew the Apostle preaching in Greater Armenia. Moreover, Bartholomew was presented as the patron apostle of Baku.
This is how it all went: on August 19, during a state visit to Baku, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral of the Baku and Azerbaijan Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church accompanied by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. There, Bishop Alexei (Smirnov) told them the history of the Cathedral founded at the beginning of the 20th century and reopening in 2003 after restoration, informing them that the casket with the relic of the patron Saint of Baku Bartholomew the Apostle is located in the Cathedral.
“According to the oral teaching, that preacher suffered a painful martyrdom here in the city of Baku, at the place of the monument called “Maiden Tower” (Azerbaijani: Qız Qalası). Before the revolution there was a chapel in honor of St. Bartholomew. According to an old tradition in Baku, people gathered here on Bartholomew’s Memorial Day to pray. That is why St. Bartholomew is considered the patron of the city of Baku and all of Azerbaijan, as well as all the people living here,” Alexei told the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan.
Fact Investigation Platform tried to find out the position of the Armenian Apostolic Church with a written inquiry to the Mother See, considering that Bartholomew the Apostle is considered one of the apostles who brought Christianity to Armenia due to which the Armenian Church is considered apostolic.
“Saint Bartholomew the Apostle preached and was martyred in Greater Armenia and is the founding apostle of the Armenian Church, as evidenced by not only Armenian, but also Assyrian and Latin sources. This sacred teaching has pan-Christian recognition and has been consecrated by the 2,000-year activity of our Church and many sanctuaries dedicated to the apostle. And as for other teachings, their credibility needs to be studied by historians,” reads the written answer of the Mother See.
We addressed three more questions to the Mother See, trying to reveal the position of the Armenian Apostolic Church why Baku started the process of appropriation of Bartholomew with the help of Russia; whether the Armenian Apostolic Church considers that what is being carried out by Baku and the Russian Federation is an encroachment on the Armenian Apostolic Church; and finally, we tried to elucidate why the Armenian Apostolic Church was silent for a while after that visit and whether the Armenian Apostolic Church is planning to take any steps against the fallacy.
However, these questions remained unanswered.
Scientists and ethnographers immediately opposed the Russian-Azerbaijani propaganda instead of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Scientist, Armenologist Gevorg Ghazaryan states in a post on his Facebook page titled “The story of a hoax“: “In 2003 upon the invitation of Heydar Aliyev, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Baku and donated the casket of the Apostle to the Russian Cathedral there. St. Bartholomew was declared the patron saint of Baku. Baku, the majority of whose population is Muslim. Clearly the Ecumenical Patriarch was both paid and pressured…”
Ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan notes that in the Christian teaching, the apostle known as Bartholomew in the Armenian teaching was always mentioned and known as a preacher who acted in Greater Armenia and was martyred in the first century.
“Thaddeus and Bartholomew, among the 12 closest apostles of Jesus Christ in the Christian teaching in general, and in the Armenian teaching in particular, were the apostles who brought Christianity to Greater Armenia and that is why the Christian Church of Armenia is called the Holy Apostolic Church. According to records, in the first century, other preachers were also in Armenia, or passed through Armenia, but the apostolic activity in Armenia is mainly attributed to Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Moreover, Armenia was the last stop of their activities since both of them were martyred in Armenia,” ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan presented during the discussion at the National Academy of Sciences.
According to the ethnographer, Bartholomew is presented in more detail in “The Chronicles of Our Holy Father Moses” which tells in detail how Bartholomew, being saddened that he was not in Jerusalem at the time of the death of the Virgin Mary, created her image on wood, then receiven an order from the Holy Spirit to go to Armenia to evangelize.
“Goes to Persia, preaches in Khorasan, then goes to Armenia, near a renowned rock in which many demons lived, serving Anahit, the “Pagan Goddess,” and that place was called Darbnats rock… The saint of God chases away the demons and erects a cross there. It is the place near the Tigris river between the “Kangvar fort” (in the Vaspurakan region of the Greater Armenia and the Agravats rock) and the place where Patriarch Grigoris preached, and then King Trdat was buried. The Saint Bartholomew the Apostle builds a small church here, where he leaves a wooden carving of the image of the Virgin Mary, and which he calls the Holy Virgin, then he builds a nunnery nearby and calls the place “Hogeats Monastery” for “the Mother of God.” And he, the holy Apostle, continues to evangelize in Armenia, and “is killed [martyred] in a place in the city of Urbanos, which was called Barma in honor of the Apostle,” the ethnographer presented.
She also pointed out a notable circumstance, according to which, on May 21, 2001, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia went to Baku and “communed” with the relics of St. Bartholomew “kept” in the church of Baku. “This is a bit strange since Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is reported to have presented the box with the relics of Bartholomew the Apostle to the Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral in Baku only on April 16, 2003,” said Hranush Kharatyan.
Thus, Azerbaijan, with the help of Russian clergy, is trying to ascribe to Baku a historical connection with the Bartholomew the Apostle, which is in contradiction with the Christian teaching.
Hasmik Hambardzumyan
