Armenian premier to pray at not to stop at Etchmiadzin

ArmInfo.  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not limit himself to prayers at Hovhannavank. Today, in a video address on social media, he announced plans to pray at Etchmiadzin as well.

In an official statement, Ktrich Nersisyan (the secular name of  Kaolikos of All Armenians, Garegin II) considered our prayers at  Hovhannavank a desecration. The desecration lies not in this, but in  the fact that the person holding the Catholicos' office has broken  his vow of celibacy and has a child, and, according to some sources,  children.

The desecration lies in the fact that Ktrich Nersisyan has led  Armenia's spiritual life to a dead end and, in essence, has turned  the Catholicos's activities into export, import, money, distribution  of money, buying and selling.

"The desecration is that we have a man who does not believe in God in  the post of Catholicos.

We will continue our prayers in Hovhannavank, and then in the Mother  See of Holy Etchmiadzin," Pashinyan stated.

As a reminder, on October 21, by decree of Catholicos of All  Armenians Garegin II, Father Aram Asatryan was declared deposed. The  basis for the deposition was a report by the Primate of the  Aragatsotn Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the  conclusion of the Commission for Awarding Honorary Titles and  Disciplinary Matters of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the  Armenian Apostolic Church. These documents stated that Father Aram  Asatryan, through his public speeches and statements, had discredited  the Church, the Primate of the Diocese, and his fellow priests. He  continued his actions, ignoring the Primate's admonitions and  instructions. It was on Asatryan's statement that the head of the  Aragatsotn Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Mkrtich  Proshyan, and the abbot of the Surb Gevorg Monastery in Mughni,  Aragatsotn Province, Father Garegin Arsenyan, were arrested.

On Sunday, October 26, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Defense  Minister Suren Papikyan, other officials, and members of the ruling  Civil Contract party attended the liturgy celebrated by defrocked  monk Stepan Asatryan. A police presence was observed in the village  of Hovhannavan from early morning, and numerous security personnel  guarded the monastery grounds. The security forces restricted  journalists' access to the church because Pashinyan was present at  the liturgy. Earlier in the morning, police detained two abbots of  the Aragatsotn Diocese but soon released them. Lawyer Aru Zohrabyan  and Hieromonk Shnork Poloyan were also denied access to the  monastery. During the liturgy, a man who shouted that Asatryan had no  right to conduct the service was escorted out of the monastery, his  mouth covered.

That same evening, Pashinyan announced that next week, on November 2,  he would attend the liturgy of defrocked priest Stepan Asatryan in  Hovhannavank for the second time. He stated that these liturgies are  part of the program "for the liberation of the Mother See of Holy  Etchmiadzin and the renewal of the Armenian Apostolic Church."  "Today's liturgy is an important stage in the renewal of my spiritual  life," the prime minister stated in a video address.