Armenian Church hard nut to crack for premier - MP

ArmInfo. For the leader of the opposition faction With Honor of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Hayk Mamijanyan, the accusations of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan against the  Armenian Apostolic Church seemed simply disgusting.

Speaking at a briefing in the National Assembly of the Republic of  Armenia on May 30, the MP recalled that, in fact, since May 22, the  spiritual leader of Azerbaijan has been campaigning against the AAC.  A week later, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan lashed out at the AAC, and today he posted offensive  statements about the Armenian clergy on his Facebook page. "Okay, if  only we read these statements. I would like them to be carefully read  by the National Assembly deputies from the ruling Civil Contract  faction, most of whom were baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church,  like each of us, who turned to religion and God in the most difficult  moments of life. I would like these notes to be read by those who  actively support him in power - representatives of the security  forces, the judiciary, and to publicly state whether they intend to  continue to act in the same spirit as they did during the period of  unorganized military actions, the surrender of Artsakh. Let these  notes be read, first of all, by Pashinyan's supporters, and read  carefully, because these revelations are nothing new to us. All this  is simply disgusting," Hayk Mamijanyan emphasized.

He added that "the Armenian Apostolic Church has seen thousands of  people like Nikol in its lifetime, of different calibers, and will  see thousands more." "The AAC is beyond his capabilities," the  oppositionist said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted an obscene insult to a  bishop on his official Facebook page early in the morning of May 30.  A literal translation of what he wrote goes beyond the bounds of  decency, except perhaps like this: "Your Holiness, continue to have  sex with your uncle's wife, what do you care about me?" After some  time, he made another post: "We must ask ourselves, how many of our  bishops are faithful to the vow of celibacy?"

Then another: "Some people are concerned that I am officially  unmarried. Half of our spiritual elite is in the same situation, and  some people are not concerned." And the last one (for now): "And what  happens when it turns out that a celibate priest has broken his vow  of celibacy? He is deprived of his position, rank and phylum. What is  now more morally honest: to voluntarily resign or to fall into the  arms of mental anguish? Let's see if there will be an investigation,  let's see if the truth is revealed." 

The day before, at a government meeting, Pashinyan compared Armenian  churches to closets. "Whoever has the most unnecessary things can be  seen in churches - an extra marble slab, bags of cement, pieces of  old rusty reinforcement," the prime minister said, demanding that the  head of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of  Armenia introduce appropriate standards in churches, since "the real  owner of these objects, monuments, is the state."

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responded to this statement. "It  is regrettable that, when commenting on such a delicate issue, even a  person holding such a high position cannot help but demonstrate the  lack of the now "fashionable" education (Pashinyan and his wife are  conducting a campaign called "Education is fashionable" - ed.), as  well as an internal crisis of correct public communication and deep  understanding of the issues," wrote the head of the chancery of the  Mother See, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan on his TG channel.