Armenian church engaged in politics - minister

ArmInfo. Voicing the problems existing in the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) does not mean interfering in its affairs and violating the separate status of the  Church from the state. This opinion was expressed by the Minister of  Justice of Armenia Srbuhi Galyan on June 6 in a conversation with  journalists in parliament.

Earlier, the made a statement in Armenia. , - the organization says on the social network.   The authors of the statement, however, consider it pointless to  submit a statement about a crime on this issue, since they have  repeatedly been convinced of the political servility of the competent  authorities.

According to the head of the Ministry of Justice, everyone is free to  choose the method of voicing the problem. , - she noted.

When asked whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that  the authorities of the Republic of Armenia should have a "decisive  vote" in the election of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All  Armenians, and that candidates for the post of Catholicos should  undergo a background check, is not interference in church affairs,  Srbuhi Galyan recalled that (according to the Constitution - ed.) the  relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic  Holy Church can be regulated by law.

Srbuhi Galyan herself is convinced that today there is a problem - we  have a church that has long been involved in politics. And if the  clergy are obliged to follow certain norms, then the Christian  community can decide whether it is in solidarity with the current  situation or not, the minister noted.

As for the statement by the Speaker of the National Assembly Alen  Simonyan that, perhaps, within the framework of the upcoming  constitutional reforms, the relations between the church and the  state will be revised, then, according to Galyan, at this stage there  are no such discussions. But in the future, perhaps such an idea  could be discussed and a consensus formed around it or not, the head  of the Ministry of Justice added.

Recall that Pashinyan said at a cabinet meeting on May 29 that all  Armenian churches have been closed down and require the introduction  of appropriate standards, since . The Mother See responded to him by pointing  out his lack of a education (Pashinyan and his wife are  running a campaign called - ed.), as well  as .

Early the next morning, the Prime Minister posted an obscene insult  to the top hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church on his official  Facebook page, along the lines of:

. Then he wondered how many bishops of the Armenian  Apostolic Church are celibate, pointing out that many are concerned  that he himself is not officially married. The Prime Minister's wife  Anna Hakobyan, in turn, called the clergy . At the end of the day, Pashinyan said that the authorities  of the Republic of Armenia should have a in the  matter of electing the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All  Armenians, and candidates for the post of Catholicos should undergo a  background check.

And for several days now Pashinyan, as well as all representatives of  the State Duma, have been demanding an explanation of whether Garegin  II violated his vow of celibacy and whether he has a child, . , the head  of government believes.