ICC Note:
“The ‘Saint Andrea church’ in the city of Kerman… has been demolished by city authorities, despite being listed as a protected national monument,” Farsi Christian News Network reports.
11/6/2011 Iran (FCNN) – About three months ago we read in the papers that the Saint Andrea church in the city of Kerman (about 900 Km. South East of Tehran) has been demolished by city authorities; despite being listed as a protected national monument. Its demolition being carried out in haste to forestall any national or international protests.
Following this wanton destruction of an historical and religious building and the subsequent local and international outcry, a city spokesman in Kerman claimed that the owners having applied for and granted change of status into a commercial premise; have decided to demolish the building and use the site to create a shopping center.  He further opined that being a prime commercial site on the corner of city’s most important commercial street- Shariaty Rd- it will attract many new businesses, further improving the financial future of the area. All this despite the fact that the arrival of the bulldozers on the scene; was the only notice the owners, The Armenian Church of Iran, were given.
This deliberate act of wanton destruction has caused anger and resentment in Iranian-Armenian community, as well as all lovers of Iranian Heritage across the world. A message of condemnation is still pouring in from across the world. Islamic Regime and Taliban have a lot more in common than both are willing to admit openly.
To give perspective to the facts, we have gathered some background information about the Church in Kerman and its historical and cultural importance to the Armenians, and other Christians, in the Islamic Republic.
Historical facts
The first Christian missionaries in South-Southwest of the country were from an Evangelical Church in Great Britain in 1898, managed and run by Doctor Dodson, who not only was a medical practitioner but also an untiring evangelist. The group concentrated its missionary activities in Kerman, Baluchestan, and Hormozgan provinces. The last remaining vestige of their efforts in providing medical and humanitarian help to these largely ignored areas of the country is still evidenced in the “Morsalin” hospital in the city of Kerman.
Dr. Dodson’s sacrifices and his good name gathered others Christians to the area, and gradually a substantial community of Christians gathered in Kerman to serve the local population’s medical needs, as well as their evangelical missionary drive. At first a small room in the hospital dedicated to God, but over time and with the gradual growth of Christians, the need for a larger and more functional church building became pressing enough that a one hectare walled garden in the outskirts of town was purchased for this purpose.
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