Vartan Avanesian Responds to Reopening of ‘Holy Mary’ Metro Station
Priest Vartan Avanesian, in response to the reopening of the ‘Holy Mary’ metro station, described it as a “propaganda move.”
Priest Vartan Avanesian, a well-known Christian figure with a history of life and service in Iran, in response to the naming of the ‘Holy Mary’ metro station in Tehran, described this measure as a “propaganda move” while speaking about the multiple pressures faced by Christians in Iran.
During an interview with the news network “Iran International,” in response to the question “while many Christian believers in Iran are imprisoned and many problems have been created for them by the authorities, what does naming a metro station ‘Holy Mary’ mean?” he said: “As a citizen who served in Iran as a priest for many years (meaning as an Armenian I had this opportunity), I must say that what is presented as propaganda for domestic consumption and for supporters of the government is in complete contradiction and conflict with what is happening inside the country.
This move is actually domestic consumption and demonstrates that the government for 46 years has not tolerated all human rights principles and us Christians, that a Persian-speaking Christian can exist. This Christianity that is mentioned here and the name Holy Mary is actually only for Armenians and the Armenian Orthodox Church.
The images that are there and the verses that are written there do not match the true Gospel in any way. So it is actually propaganda fodder, and this is a habit that over these 46 years, the voices of true Christians and the voice of the true Gospel have been silenced, as it was said, everyone has been deprived of having a Bible. So this measure is only because of the Armenian ethnicity that has been there for years. This propaganda and this misuse only has foreign fodder and propaganda consumption, while many of our loved ones are in prison and in persecution.”
Priest Vartan continued: “One could say, in these days when everyone is in a tight spot and there are pressures from all sides, this measure is only propaganda to say that Iran is a country of freedom, religions are free, Christians are free and how much we respect them; but even that Christ is not our Christian Christ, it is not the Christ that the Gospel presents. The Bible does not confirm the narrations that are written there, so it is only propaganda fodder for the survival of what is on the verge of extinction.”
Priest Avanesian also, in response to the question “basically, when the Islamic Republic has gone to the point of imposing a religious symbol, however non-Shiite, on the ordinary life of people, what purpose is it pursuing?” added: “Again their specialty is projection. If the budget that was allocated for all this propaganda just for one station named Holy Mary, and that too with its artistic beauties, if they were concerned about the people, the welfare of the people, the livelihood of the people, the needs of the people, even Armenians and Christians, it would have been much more beneficial.
How does each loved one who goes up and down those stairs benefit their spiritual life, livelihood, family and their survival? All of this goes against those principles in which human rights shows a person’s needs. Therefore, the meaning and concept of it, unfortunately in these days when people are caught in a vice from all sides, is neither a religious issue nor an observance of religious principles, but only has domestic consumption for those around it, for those who with this propaganda megaphone can defend Iran which is under such pressure. In hope of the speedy freedom of Christians in Iran.”
