Hetq sent a list of questions to Father Vahram Melikyan, who runs the Public Affairs Office at Etchmiadzin, regarding the church's involvement in the construction of a restaurant at the Kecharis Monastery.

For the past month, we haven't been able to get a straight answer from the Holy See.

We wanted to know when Etchmiadzin had signed a commercial lease with the Karigag, the company developing the site, and who, on behalf of the church, actually signed such a document.

Father Melikyan avoided answering our questions, telling us that we would have to contact the Kotayk Diocese.

When we asked why Etchmiadzin's chief architect had never been informed about the construction, Father Melikyan said that the lease agreement had been signed with the full knowledge of the church.

This would seem to contradict an earlier statement made by Chief Architect Nazaretyan that Catholicos Garegin II only heard about the restaurant construction through press reports.

Thus, the construction had already started before either the Catholicos or Etchmiadzin's Chief Architect had a clue as to what was happening and before the building plans had been approved by the church's architectural council.

Harutyun Harutyunyan, who is temporarily running the Kotayk Diocese, had told Hetq that the Holy Resurrection Church at Kecharis was only being renovated.

Who, if anyone, is telling the truth regarding Kecharis?

Even top church officials can't seem to agree.