ROC: Armenian Prime Minister is exceeding his constitutional  authority allowing himself offensive statements and threats against  church leadership

ArmInfo.  The Armenian authorities are exceeding their authority by attacking and threatening the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which is legally  separate from the state. The Armenian people treat it "with great  respect" and have not given Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan the  authority to reform it at his own discretion, as stated by Archpriest  Nikolai Balashov, advisor to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow  and All Rus, to RIA Novosti. 

On Wednesday, while speaking in parliament, Pashinyan threatened to  confiscate state owned churches being used free of charge by the  church, claiming that "there is no spiritual life there." According  to the politician, the place where "spiritual life exists" is the  Hovhannavank Monastery, whose abbot was Priest Aram Asatryan  (earlier, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II defrocked Asatryan  for numerous violations and discrediting the church). Also, according  to media reports, Pashinyan stated in parliament that the head of the  Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, is no longer a clergy member.  Pashinyan also accused Karekin II's brother, Archbishop Yezras, the  head of the Russian and New Nakhichevan Diocese of the Armenian  Apostolic Church, of being a "KGB agent."

 "One may get the impression that the current leader of the Armenian  government has decided to engage in an unequal struggle with the  national spiritual foundations and, to this end, is resorting to  persecution and insults against church hierarchs and clergy in  general, arresting clergy, and threatening to confiscate church  buildings. This may be due to the influence of external forces, as  such ideas clearly do not reflect the feelings of the Armenian  people, who hold their church in great respect and have not given  Pashinyan the authority to reform it at his own whim," Balashov said.   He added that, according to Armenian law, the church is separate from  the state, and government officials have no right to interfere in its  affairs. "A political figure in a secular state has no right to  interfere in the structure of church life, which is determined by the  canonical decrees of the church itself. The Armenian Constitution  guarantees the freedom of religious organizations and emphasizes that  they are autonomous and separate from the state. Thus, the prime  minister is violating his constitutional authority with such  statements, allowing himself to make offensive statements and threats  against church leadership," the Patriarch's adviser emphasized.

He also mentioned that, according to the same Armenian constitution,  the state  recognizes "the exclusive historical mission of the  Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as the national church in the  spiritual life, development of  national culture, and  preservation  of  national identity." "History has shown   that the struggle  against the faith of the people and the church inevitably ends in  defeat, leaving the perpetrators ashamed," the agency's source  concluded.