Pashinyan: Government will never act against Armenian Church

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the government would never act against the Armenian Apostolic Church and would not allow the Church to be used as a tool against the state.

According to Armenian media, cited by Caliber.Az, speaking on January 6, Pashinyan stressed that the authorities have no intention of confronting the Church and rejected attempts to involve it in actions directed against the Republic of Armenia.

“We have been praying to God for peace for a long time, but we realised that we must create this peace through our decisions and actions.

Today we went to tell Christ that we are following His covenant and creating peace.

Some are trying to use the Armenian Apostolic Church as a base for actions against the Republic of Armenia. We will not allow this.

The government has not acted, is not acting, and will never act against the Church.

Jesus Christ is coming out of isolation. Together with ten bishops, we signed a document on revival. We must defend our spiritual fathers just as they stood shoulder to shoulder with our people.

None of the followers of our Church claim to be sinless. The text clearly states that everyone acknowledges their sinfulness. We also acknowledge our responsibility; we left our Church alone with the schismatic. But we will not leave Jesus Christ alone.

Many view our actions as a political act, but we kneel before the altar and ask forgiveness for our sins. This is not a political act,” Pashinyan said.

His remarks followed a religious procession earlier in the day led by Pashinyan in Yerevan, which proceeded to the Church of Surb Anna (St. Anne).

By Tamilla Hasanova