«Արևելք գնալը» - Հարցազրույց Ջովանի ԳՈՒԱՅԻՏԱՅԻ հետ

The article, presented as an interview with Giovanni Guaita, is devoted to the life and scholarly path of the Italian researcher of the history of the Eastern Churches, as well as to his long-standing engagement with Armenian themes — from a theological understanding of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the study of the history of the Armenian Genocide.

Introduction and Biographical Context

In the conversation, Guaita speaks about his formation as a Russian philologist and theologian, his studies in Lausanne and Geneva, his move to Russia in 1988, and his ongoing research into the history of the Russian Church and the ancient Eastern Churches — Armenian, Coptic, Syriac. A special place is given to the account of his decisive meeting with Catholicos Karekin I in Graz in 1997, which became the starting point for the book-interview with the Primate of the Armenian Church.

Work on the Book-Interview with Karekin I

The author describes in detail:

the search for a suitable interlocutor among the hierarchs of the Eastern Churches — one who was open and ready to answer without diplomatic evasiveness;
the content of the conversations, which covered contemporary church issues (cloning, ecumenism, the legacy of the Soviet era), as well as the personal fate of the Catholicos, born in the Syrian Armenian village of Kessab;
the international success of the book, translated into several languages, and its role in helping young Armenians reconnect with their own ecclesiastical tradition.

Dogmatic Questions of the Armenian Church

Guaita pays attention to overcoming the historical prejudice regarding the "monophysitism" of the Armenian Church, explaining it as a linguistic and historical misunderstanding, and emphasizes the necessity of ecumenical dialogue as a genuinely Christian, rather than ideological, practice.

From Church History to Secular History: The Book "1700 Years of Faithfulness"

A separate section is devoted to the creation of the book about the baptism of Armenia, conceived on the initiative of Karekin I himself. The author discusses the fundamental difference between the Russian and Italian editions of the book, aimed at different readerships, as well as the position of an "outside view" as a way of preserving neutrality in presenting a complex church history.

The Theme of the Armenian Genocide

The concluding part is devoted to the work on the book about Armin Wegner and reflections on the necessity of preserving historical memory of the Genocide — as a moral imperative and as a political condition significant in the context of Turkey's European integration.

Conclusion

The key conclusion of the interview is that Giovanni Guaita's path toward Armenian themes demonstrates the fundamental possibility and productivity of a view "from outside" — an open yet scholarly balanced dialogue between traditions — through which the historical and spiritual memory of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people is preserved and transmitted.