Groong Links:
Guest:
Topics:
- Vatican Hosts Fake Azeri Conference
- Azerbaijani Propaganda and Cultural Misappropriation
- Weakness and Silent Complicity of the Armenian State
Episode 430 | Recorded: April 26, 2025
Show Notes
Show Notes
In this Conversations on Groong episode, we discuss the Vatican’s controversial collaboration with Azerbaijan to whitewash the erasure of Armenian history.
In the final weeks of Pope Francis’ life, the Pontifical Gregorian University hosted a conference titled “Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Modernity,” backed by Azerbaijan’s regime. The event, with no Armenian participation, advanced a false narrative erasing the Christian Armenian heritage of Artsakh.
We are joined by:
- Avedis Hadjian, journalist and co-author of the letter signed by over 350 scholars condemning the Vatican’s complicity.
- Dr. Vartan Matiossian, historian, Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of New York, and a co-author of the letter.
Together, we examine how the Vatican’s actions fit into a larger pattern of corruption, Azerbaijani propaganda, and the troubling silence of the Armenian state.
Main Topics Addressed
1. Corruption of the Church
- The Vatican’s growing ties with Azerbaijan over the past decade.
- Vatican institutions accepting donations and honoring Mehriban Aliyeva.
- The Pontifical Gregorian University’s event promoting Azerbaijan’s revisionist history.
2. Azerbaijani Propaganda and Cultural Appropriation
- Azerbaijan’s coordinated campaign to erase Armenian cultural heritage.
- The misuse of religious platforms to legitimize false historical claims.
- Broader soft power strategies involving Italy and the Vatican.
3. Weakness (or Silent Complicity) of the Armenian State
- The muted response of the Armenian government to these provocations.
- The risks of inaction in defending Armenian historical narratives.
- Broader reflections on Armenia’s diplomatic challenges post-2020.
Key Questions Discussed
- What prompted the open letter signed by over 350 scholars condemning the Vatican’s actions?
- How does Azerbaijan use cultural appropriation as a political weapon?
- Why are religious institutions, like the Vatican, attractive targets for authoritarian propaganda?
- Has the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian state meaningfully responded?
- Should certain Vatican-affiliated clergy be declared persona non grata by Armenian churches?
- What are the broader implications for Christian communities that look to the Vatican for moral leadership?
Links Referenced During The Show
- Donations Tilt Vatican in Favor of Azerbaijan (Armenian Weekly)
- How the Vatican Helped Legitimize Azerbaijan’s Autocracy (IRPI Media)
- Gregorian Azerbaijan Conference (National Catholic Register)
- Armenian Leaders Criticize Vatican Azeri Event (Pillar Catholic)
- Over 350 Scholars Condemn Vatican Complicity (Horizon Weekly)
- Mother See Condemns “Western Azerbaijan” Exhibit in Warsaw (Armenian Church)
Other Resources
Wrap-up
That’s our show! We hope you found it useful. Please find us on Social Media and follow us everywhere you get your Armenian news.
Thanks to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts.
Guests
Avedis Hadjian
Avedis Hadjian is a journalist and writer based in Venice. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, and Le Monde Diplomatique, among other international news outlets. His work as a correspondent has taken him to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Latin America. He was educated in Buenos Aires and Cambridge, UK.
He is the author of Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey, about Armenians who live under different guises of assimilation in the historical Armenian provinces, Cilicia, and other regions of present-day Turkey.
Dr. Vartan Matiossian
Vartan Matiossian is an Armenian Studies scholar specialized in history and literature. He is the Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in New York. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay), he moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina) in his childhood and graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. He has lived in New Jersey since 2000. He obtained his Ph.D. in History from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia in 2006.
He has published extensively in Armenian, Spanish, and English, including ten books and many scholarly articles, reviews, translations, and commentaries. He has edited several volumes and translated more than two dozen of books into Spanish, English, and Armenian. He is the author in English of Armenian Language Matters (2019), The Politics of Naming the Armenian Genocide: Language, History and ‘Medz Yeghern’ (2022), and has co-authored A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shamakha” (2023) with Artsvi Bakhchinyan. His book The Color of Choice: The Armenians and the Politics of Race in the United States and Germany (1890-1945) will be published in the summer of 2025.
Hosts
Asbed Bedrossian
Asbed is founder of the Armenian News Network Groong and co-founder of the ANN/Groong podcast.
Hovik Manucharyan
Hovik Manucharyan is an information security engineer who moved from Seattle to Armenia in 2022. He co-founded the ANN/Groong podcast in 2020 and has been a contributor to Groong News since the late 1990s.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by Hovik Manucharyan on the ANN/Groong podcast are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of his employer or any other organization.