I Request the Bishop's Forgiveness: An Explanation from the State Revenue Committee

The Shirak Diocese continues to remain registered as an NGO with its director, Gevorg Ajapahyan, and operates at the address mentioned in the letter from the State Revenue Committee (SRC) employee. This was noted by Lusine Mkrtchyan, the press secretary of the SRC, on her Facebook page, responding to a question raised by Archbishop Mikhail Ajapahyan, the head of the Shirak Diocese.

Lusine Mkrtchyan's statement is presented below:

"I have spoken with the highly esteemed Archbishop Mikhail Ajapahyan, the leader of the Shirak Diocese, and have gained a complete understanding regarding the question he raised on Facebook. I must say that there was a mutual oversight. In the documentation, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Shirak Diocese continues to be registered as a public organization under the name 'Armenian Apostolic Church, Shirak Diocese', with Gevorg Ajapahyan as its director (the registration is indeed under this name). The organization operates at the address specified in the SRC employee's letter.

The reason may be that at the time when there was no law on Religion in Armenia, religious organizations were registered as public organizations, and this information has been retained. Nevertheless, this fact does not excuse the oversight of the SRC employee, who wished to perform their duty by informing us that according to data provided by the Ministry of Finance, the public organization 'Armenian Apostolic Church, Shirak Diocese' has acquired property, the source of which was public funds.

According to Article 24, part 2 of the RA Law on Public Organizations, if the source of the organization’s property acquisition stems from public funds, the organization must publish the report stipulated by that article on the reporting website prior to May 30 of the year following the reporting year.

The leader of the Shirak Diocese is simply a highly respected spiritual figure among the public, and there is a proper form for addressing him. I ask for the Bishop’s forgiveness for not adhering to this form.

It is evident that it is necessary to make appropriate changes in the documents to correct both the registration address and the organizational-legal type of the Shirak Diocese, and to convey all details to the registering body in order to prevent similar inappropriate situations for both the SRC and the Shirak Diocese in the future.

Regarding the Bishop's Facebook post, I wholly accept it solely as a Christian child, as my relationship with the spiritual mission transcends any documentation. In any case, the issue has been clarified, and there is a mutual desire to make corrections. Let us proceed in goodwill..."