I Love Him Very Much, I Want Him to Stay on the Street: Simonian on the Bishop

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian, stated that His Holiness Garegin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, is "merely a servant of the believers."

"He should help us communicate with God, he is not a king, he is not Holy Etchmiadzin, he is not holy; no one is holy," Simonian said during a conversation with reporters.

According to the Speaker, one should not identify a person, faith, and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Simonian mentioned that Bishop Bagrat was not allowed inside on the day of the consecration of the Mother See. "Where was he, or maybe they didn’t let him in?" he questioned, expressing confusion as to how it happened that the Armenian government was in the Mother See, while the leader of the struggle, the Bishop, was "in the palace."

Reporters reminded him that Bishop Bagrat was in fasting during those days, to which he replied, "He can grow a mustache or a beard, but to not be present at the consecration of the Mother Cathedral, what is that? I love him very much, I want him to stay on the street. I want to assist him in every way to remain afloat, because he must answer for everything he did against our country's security."