Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with a group of high-ranking clergymen from the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Attending the meeting were Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Arakel Karamyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Anushavan Jamkochyan, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Bishop Arakel Tigranyan, and Bishop Gevorg Saroyan. The head of the Diocese of Artsakh also participated.
The Prime Minister welcomed the clergy and thanked them for their publicly expressed principled position. According to the government’s press service, Pashinyan said the issue raised in the bishops’ statement indicates that “through a personalized situation, we are facing a very important shared national agenda.”
Pashinyan also posted a video of the meeting on his Facebook page.
“I believe the topic you raised in your statement demonstrates that through an individual case, we are encountering a deeply significant common agenda,” he said.
“I’ve thought about this at length and have come to a conclusion I shared with the public, and now feel compelled to share with you: we often speak of building a value-based society, a value-based state. This is both our goal and our challenge. Ultimately, any state's legal logic is based on a system of values, and a state cannot exist without one.
Our values are primarily linked to our spiritual principles. The role these spiritual values play for us significantly determines whether our society and state are value-driven.
This is a matter that is crucial for the future development and fate of our state. Expressing a position on it is important. I viewed your statement from that perspective and saw an expression of serious concern of the same nature. That’s why I felt it necessary to invite you to this meeting. I thank you for accepting and being open to this conversation,” Pashinyan stated.
A group of high-ranking Armenian Apostolic Church clergy—archbishops and bishops—recently issued a statement accusing Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II of attempting to cover up and block proceedings regarding Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, the Chancellor of the Mother See. The clergy claim that video evidence of Khachatryan’s actions exists and also assert that “Karekin II has been unfaithful to the oath he took during his consecration as Catholicos.”
