AAC premier`s new target - Hayakve 

ArmInfo. Without a doubt, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is engaged in destructive  activities. This is stated in a statement by the civil initiative "Ayakve" in connection with the new attacks by the authorities on the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.

The initiative's post, posted on the Telegram channel, notes that  Pashinyan understands that elections are coming soon, and his rating  has fallen to the lowest possible level, so he needs to reposition  himself as a supposed representative of the people.

"For this, he needs a new target, and now this target is the Armenian  Apostolic Church. Everything has already been said about other  individuals and organizations that have become Pashinyan's target.  Some believed these accusations, and some did not. Now he needs a new  topic and a new object of conflict. The Armenian Apostolic Church  must become a target so that an acute conflict arises, new issues  arise that would become a subject of discussion, and those citizens  of the Republic of Armenia who are not followers of the Armenian  Apostolic Church, or those who, for objective or subjective reasons,  are dissatisfied with the activities of certain clergy or are  disappointed, or do not deeply perceive the role and mission of the  Armenian Apostolic Church, must be drawn into their field and faced  with a choice," the initiative's statement says.

Today the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia once again raised  the issue of the vow of celibacy of the Catholicos of All Armenians  on his Facebook page. "In my opinion, the Catholicos of All Armenians  is an indisputable authority, an unwavering defender of justice, an  indisputable source of truth. I cannot believe that the Catholicos  can act as a suppressor of truth, I cannot believe that anything  other than the truth can come from the lips of the Catholicos. Let  Garegin II himself clarify: has he broken the vow of celibacy and  does he have a child? We, his flock, have the right to hear the truth  from him," Pashinyan wrote.

The "saga" with the celibacy of the clergy began after Pashinyan's  statement on May 29 at a cabinet meeting that all Armenian churches  are closed and require the introduction of appropriate standards,  since "the real owner of these objects, monuments is the state." The  capital responded to him by pointing out his lack of a currently  "fashionable" education (Pashinyan and his wife are running a  campaign called "Education is fashionable" - ed.), as well as an  "internal crisis of proper public communication and deep  understanding of issues."

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

"Your Holiness, keep having sex with your uncle's wife, what do you  care about me?" After a while, 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." Pashinyan stated that  the authorities of the Republic of Armenia should have a "decisive  vote" in the matter of electing the Catholicos, and candidates for  the post of Catholicos should undergo a background check. And for  several days now, Pashinyan has been demanding an explanation of  whether Garegin II violated his vow of celibacy and whether he has a  child, "since from the moment the fact in question arose, he could  not be a celibate priest." "This issue must be clarified urgently,"  said the head of government, who, it would seem, should have been  concerned about the shots fired by the Azerbaijani armed forces in  the direction of Syunik, the uncertainty surrounding the peace treaty  and the ever-new demands from Baku.