Nikol Pashinyan: Unfortunately, in our country, a general trend today  leads to the rejection of spirituality

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Holy See of Etchmiadzin and met with members of the Supreme Spiritual Council.

According to the press service of the Government of Armenia, the  Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II thanked  Prime Minister Pashinyan for visiting the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and  meeting with participants in the annual meeting of the Supreme  Spiritual Council, as well as presenting the agenda of the issues  under discussion.

Addressing those present, Pashinyan said: "I am glad to meet today.  Of course, there is a need for such meetings, and perhaps more often  than they are taking place now. On the whole, of course, as the  Catholicos noted, discussions about relations between the state and  the church are very important , especially in the new situation and  new conditions that we have in the Republic of Armenia today. These  conditions and relations have many subtleties, and I hope that today  we will be able to consider important details of these subtleties.

In general, when it comes to relations between the state and the  church, I first of all understand not only and not so much the  regulation of material relations, although they are also important  and essential, but first of all I understand the discussion of  spiritual life, spiritual values and the environment of spirituality  in general our country".

At the same time, speaking about the environment in the country,  Pashinyan expressed the conviction that, unfortunately, in our time  the general trend leads to the rejection of spirituality. "And I do  not mean in terms of services, I do not mean in terms of position,  status, I mean, first of all, perception in public relations, that  is, the relations of the elite and the public, the relations of any  two citizens as a whole. I think that it is against the backdrop of  this rejection of spirituality that political degradation and the  spread of corruption takes place, and not only the spread, but this  is becoming the usual way of doing things, and it is on the path and  against the backdrop of rejection of spirituality that more and more  layers of society are involved in such phenomena.

In general, I want to admit that when a political team or person  gains power or receives leadership status, usually (at least  historical logic often was) their first thought and desire: how to  maintain this status for as long as possible and, if possible, assign  it.  I want to clearly emphasize that the mission of our government  and my personal mission, not only in this status, but throughout my  life, I believed that it is necessary to achieve real changes, to  achieve such changes that will serve the people who will serve the  country who will serve the state, who will serve the church, because  spiritual values, spiritual life, spiritual content are very  important for me, and I have said many times that I consider them an  integral part of my political activity and life. I generally believe  that political activity would not be so significant for me if this  very important component were not in this activity.

And I want to say (this is my subjective perception and I will not  insist on it, and this is the most correct or most justified or  perhaps the most pragmatic perception, but this is my perception)  that we should look at our life as a whole within the framework of  this prism , because I represent modern civilized relations in the  form of a circle divided into certain spectra and parts, where there  are various components: the material component, the spiritual  component, the political component, the value component and the legal  component.  It is in their correct combination that a competitive  state and society are formed. I also want to say that it is from the  awareness of this mission that I understand that we must be prepared  for a direct, open, frank conversation with the public, with the  church, with citizens and with political forces, and the purpose of  these conversations is very important, and we must be aware of why  this conversation is being held - to overcome the crisis or prevent  the crisis in cases where there is no crisis.  And in general, I  think that in the Republic of Armenia there is a crisis in all areas,  because if there had not been a crisis, the events that took place in  the country simply would not have happened. And if there had not been  a crisis, these events would not have occurred, and this is evidenced  by the fact that hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Republic of  Armenia and hundreds of thousands of our compatriots in the Diaspora,  ranging from schoolchildren to elderly people, expressed a very clear  position. This was evidence that, as of the spring of 2018, we did  not have a single sphere where there would be no crisis. And, God  forbid, I will not say that over the past year and a half these  crises have been resolved, but one crisis has definitely been  resolved - the crisis of confidence is definitely resolved.  This is  a good basis for us to continue our journey and resolve all other  crises, and resolve them through constructiveness, mutual respect,  open, frank, direct dialogue and discussion. At least that is how I  represent the relationship between the state and the church. I can't  say that in this sense we have reached such a level of dialogue that  we can assume that everything is perfect, but that we are not  standing still is a fact. We took some steps, talked, discussed, and  I am primarily glad that we can do this. This is a very important  indicator of health and a very important evidence of health, "said  Pashinyan.

In the course of the dialogue held in an open and sincere atmosphere,  a number of issues were discussed related to the relations between  the state and the church, the challenges facing our state and our  people, the existing problems and the possibilities for their  solution, preservation of historical and cultural heritage, as well  as issues of public interest.