Former Armenian President and Republican Party (RPA) leader Serzh Sargsyan stated that “persecution only strengthens the Church,” condemning what he described as an ongoing campaign by the authorities against the Armenian Apostolic Church.
According to Sargsyan, only someone “with mental issues, filled with malice, or acting on an enemy’s orders” could initiate an assault on the Church, Aysor.am reported.
“These representatives of the current regime have neither sanctity, morality, nor dignity. As for the Catholicos of All Armenians, I am confident he remains steadfast and will continue to perform his national and spiritual duties in good conscience under all circumstances. We all know that persecution against the Church only strengthens it,” Sargsyan said.
He emphasized that his political team, the Republican Party of Armenia, stands firmly by Catholicos Garegin II and the Armenian Apostolic Church, Sputnik Armenia reported. “Our actions will always align with the Catholicos’s guidance. If he utters even half a word, we are ready to stand with him — in any church, in any place,” the third president added.
In recent months, the current authorities have been accused of conducting a campaign against both the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholicos. Several high-ranking clerics, including Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the “Sacred Struggle” movement, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan of Shirak, Archbishop Mkrtich of Aragatsotn, and Father Garegin Arsenyan, chancellor of the Aragatsotn Diocese, have been arrested during this period.
