David Khudatyan: Celibacy is a matter concerning the clergy, not  personal life

ArmInfo.  Celibacy is a matter concerning the clergy, not personal life. At the request of journalists, the Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructure of Armenia David Khudatyan answered the question of  whether  the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan's inquiry  about the children of  Supreme Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin B  is an intrusion into personal life.

<The celibacy of bishops, archbishops is in no way related to  personal life, but is a fundamental requirement, a condition of the  church. This is what distinguishes them from priests>,  the head of  the department noted, adding that this condition has existed for  centuries, and was not put forward by the Armenian authorities.

Khudatyan also stated that what is happening is in no way a  government campaign against the clergy, especially against the  Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). He noted that sees nothing wrong in  publicly answering the RA Prime Minister's question about  the  children of Karekin B.  When asked by journalists what causes more  harm to  Armenian statehood - the possible existence of children by  the Catholicos or the rule of Civil Contract, Khudatyan only noted  that their team is doing everything possible to strengthen statehood.  When presented with arguments about the loss of Artsakh, the  occupation of Armenia's sovereign territories, and the thousands of  victims, the minister responded as following: <If you can justify  that under a different political force's rule , we would not have  faced all of the issues you listed - that is another matter. But  Nikol Pashinyan said in this regard that it was not a war during our  rule, but we were in power during the war. This is not a mere play on  words. Can you rule out the possibility that under a different  government the war would not have had such catastrophic  consequences?>, he asked journalists. At the same time, Khudatyan  emphasized that Civil Contract came to power thanks to the people's  vote. <What do you suggest? Should we not participate in elections?  Should we win  elections? Should we prevent the people from electing  us?>, the minister asked.