ArmInfo. The issue of removing the church from the privileged category has been discussed for a long time. This was stated by secretary of the "Civil Contract" faction, Artur Hovhannisyan, during a briefing on May 23.
"All financial resources that circulate in Armenia must come out of the shadows. The Armenian Apostolic Church, of course, has a special status in our state, but given the democratic, tax changes, the formation of state institutions, financial resources must come out of the shadows," the parliamentarian said.
According to him, the church has tax benefits, territories of different significance, including unused ones, which can be used for various needs of the state, can be useful for the state.
And in this sense, as Hovhannisyan further continued, the state and the church must cooperate. "The Church must assist the state in order to bring financial resources out of the shadows. After all, Christianity is about the absence of corruption, theft and shadows. And in our understanding, the church should be guided by this logic, without creating situations where corruption may arise", said the MP from "Civil Contract".