Forced Change of Catholicos in the Church Is Excluded: Archbishop Ajapahyan

“The Catholicos remains the Catholicos until the Lord says otherwise. Forced change of the Catholicos in the Church is excluded. Yes, they have the desire, but that is excluded. The authorities have no means and cannot have any. We are ready for anything,” said Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, the head of the Shirak Diocese, during a conversation with reporters.

Archbishop Ajapahyan assured that the clergy are capable of protecting the Church. “When the clergy were fighting in Artsakh with weapons in hand, what did that mean—evil or protection of the homeland? We, the clergy, are capable of protecting the Church, even if the people leave us alone,” said His Grace during the press conference.

However, Mikael, the Archbishop, does not believe that the people would leave the Church alone. “The Church does not respond to evil with evil and continues to love its neighbor, accordingly inviting people to church events. It is true that Ajapahyan himself is against this, but he will agree with the opinion of the majority,” noted the Archbishop.