Armenian premier plans forming coordinating group to organize  election of new Catholicos 

ArmInfo.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is moving from threats against the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin  II, to concrete steps. On his Facebook page, the head of the Armenian  government announced his intention to create a coordination group to  organize the elections of a new Catholicos of All Armenians.

"Dear faithful followers of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church! As  one of you, I appeal to you: we need to take active steps to liberate  the Patriarchate of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin and organize new  elections of the Catholicos. At this stage, we must create a  coordination group to resolve the organizational issues of the  above-mentioned agenda. The members of the coordination group can be  those followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church who, with all their  hearts, believe in our living Lord Jesus Christ, have read the Bible  from beginning to end at least once, have observed Lent at least once  in the last five years, pray every day, believe that the agenda for  the renewal of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin stems from the interests  of the AAC, our people, our state and corresponds to the sacred  tradition of our ancestors," the RA Prime Minister noted.

He added that members of the coordination group can be both men and  women, lay people and clergy. A mandatory condition is that they do  not violate the vow of celibacy.

"I will take responsibility for selecting the first 10 members of the  Coordination Group based on the assessment of the conversations held  according to the above criteria. In the future, the group itself will  determine the procedures for expansion, its structure and other  possible issues. I understand that most of the above criteria for  membership in the Coordination Group cannot be objectively verified,  but with God's help, contacts and conversations can be clarified and  seen with the eyes of the soul. If you meet the above criteria,  please send your name, last name and phone number to  [email protected] to be included in the Coordination Group,  writing in the subject line: Coordination Group. Please also briefly  write about your profession and / or occupation. The formation of the  Coordination Group will take place in the working order. During this  activity of ours, many words of temptation will be heard, we will be  accused of various sins. Look at all this with the eyes of your soul,  listen to the voice of our living Lord Jesus Christ and be guided  accordingly," Nikol Pashinyan wrote.

The Armenian authorities are not giving up their attempts to remove  Garegin II from the post of Catholicos of All Armenians. The day  before, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia once again  accused the Catholicos of violating his vow of celibacy. For this  reason, he called for the resignation of Garegin II.

On May 29, at a government meeting, the Prime Minister stated that  Armenian churches resemble "closets filled with junk." The next day,  he published a harsh post on social networks, in which he used rude  language addressed to the hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church  and accused one of the archbishops of sexual promiscuity. At the same  time, the Prime Minister demanded that all priests who violated their  vow of celibacy be defrocked. Similar attacks were made by the Prime  Minister's wife Anna Hakobyan, who called the Patriarch "the main  mafioso" and those criticizing the "chulization" of churches - "the  main pedophiles of the country."

These statements provoked a sharp reaction from the clergy. In the  wake of the scandal, the prime minister proposed changing the  procedure for electing the head of the AAC so that the state would  have a decisive vote in the elections, and candidates would undergo  an ethics check.