Former priest: The Church is currently under attack in an attempt  to  break it from its apostolic roots

ArmInfo.  The former primate of the Armenian Diocese of Romania, Father Bogdan Ezras, defrocked in 2017, has issued a statement urging his former spiritual  brothers and fathers not to allow the world to judge the Church. "I  have always believed that a voice within the Church can bring about  real change, and that is why, when I abandoned the fight for justice  and left the clergy, I thought I would have to remain silent. I was  afraid that any words I said would no longer serve the Church, which  was seeking a path with a wounded heart, but could confuse many and  would not lead to the Mother to whom I dedicated my whole heart.  After many years of silence, pain and separation, when I no longer  heard the ringing of the bells of the Armenian Church, suddenly, as  if from another world, the sounds of those same bells reached my  soul. It was like the voice of a Mother, wounded, suffering,  kneeling, having gone through thousands of years of deprivation and  continuing to grieve today. She is surrounded by internal and  external pressure, and her tears flow like rivers. This Mother is  facing the judgment of the world. She, the Body of Jesus, will be  judged by people who have never bowed before His Holiness.

 Can the Church be judged? Yes, but this judgment will be carried out  "From within, by Her children, those who bear the great and immutable  Anointing of the Holy Apostolic See, and not by the hands of temporal  secular authorities. The Church does not change with the times; its  transformation depends on Christ and the wisdom of His anointed, not  on worldly orders, which are sometimes imposed by force. Change  occurs as the Lord wills, and not in the form of human or political  ideas," the former priest stated.

He noted that when he once fought against what he considered  injustice in the Church and suffered defeat, he did not understand  that it was not his job to establish justice in the Church. "I  considered myself wounded and unjustly persecuted, and my anger  darkened my heart. But years passed, and I realized that I have my  place in the Holy Church. And if I had served my humble calling with  greater fidelity, change would have come not through individual  revolution, but through patience, faith, selflessness, and love for  my neighbors, slowly but surely.

Having said all this, I must admit with sincere concern that the  Church is today under attack, the purpose of which is to break it  from its apostolic roots. I have never had any interests or personal  grievances against the current His Holiness, Catholicos of All  Armenians Karekin II. I have met with him on numerous occasions,  accepted both his awards and, even more so, his admonitions and  punishments. I do not condemn him for removing me from the  priesthood; it was within his right. I neither defend nor condemn  him. I defend the enduring authority of the Holy See, Apostolic See.  I address my former brothers and fathers in Jesus Christ. Do not  allow the world to judge the Church. If you desire change, bring it  about from within, with fraternal love, patience, and canonical  order. Do not use worldly forces that have nothing in common with  Christ and do not serve the health of His Body.

Gather, reflect, discuss, and find a path that is acceptable to both  Christ and His Church. Today is not the time for Caesar to take what  does not belong to him. Render to Caesar the things that are  Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.  I say this with my  hands outstretched to heaven, like your former brother, whom you knew  by the name of Ezras," the former priest concluded.