Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople expresses solidarity with   Catholicos of All Armenians and clergymen

ArmInfo.The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has expressed solidarity with His Holiness Karekin of All Armenians and the six bishops against whom  legal proceedings have been initiated, as noted in an official  statement issued by the Patriarchate.

According to the source, the invocation of legal proceedings against  the Catholicos of All Armenians and the holy bishops of the Church,  and their summoning to secular courts on criminal charges,, deeply  insults the hierarchical dignity of the Armenian Church. This pain,  as the Patriarchate noted, is intensified when the guarantees granted  to the Church by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, as well  as fundamental principles of human rights, are ignored.

"And in the Diaspora, the Armenian Church continues to play a key  role in the spiritual, national, and social life of our people.  Therefore, any step aimed at weakening the authority of Holy  Etchmiadzin or infringing on its inviolability harms the  centuries-old ties between the Church and the faithful. History  testifies that during periods when our nation was deprived of  statehood, the Armenian Apostolic Church was one of its unshakable  pillars," the statement reads.

According to the statement, these processes insult not only the  brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin, but also the hierarchical thrones of  the Armenian Church, the clergy, and inter-church relations. "We call  on all responsible individuals to prevent attacks on the Armenian  Church and not to turn the decisions of official church bodies into  the subject of secular legal disputes," the Patriarchate noted.