Monk of Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin Issues Statement

The monk of the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, Abbot Asoghik Karapetyan, has issued a statement, saying: "The committed spiritual class and faithful Armenian sons are vigilant and always self-sacrificing for the sake of the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, for the sake of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, because the Armenian Patriarch embodies the entire Church of Armenia, and our whole faithful Nation. The Armenian Patriarch, by His Holy Anointing and ecclesiastical authority, is eternally inviolable and unchangeable. This is the order and requirement of divine justice and truth. This is the belief and conduct of a faithful and God-fearing person. This is the attitude and behavior of a dignified Armenian with national self-awareness. And this is how every word, deed, and action is measured. Accordingly, everything spoken and done by certain officials and employees of certain bodies is anti-national, unconstitutional, and anti-state; it is a mad warfare against God. Therefore, all those involved—known and unknown—are deserving of the curse of the Almighty God, the Holy Church, and the Nation. As a servant anointed by the Lord, as a praying Armenian soul for my homeland and for all, I again appeal to you—state officials, members of law enforcement, and the justice system—stop, come to your senses, awaken, and finally understand what a dreadful sacrilege you are making, what a destructive step you are taking… With your reason and piety, rid yourselves and your generations of the terrible Holy Hand of Almighty God, which is forever raised against all senseless and blasphemous souls. Stand still, stand still; listen to this sweet voice that is coming to you from the Lord's Holy Scriptures. Sanctify the national and state-making reality that reached its peak at the dawn of our independence—cooperation of the Holy Church and State in harmony, complementing and supporting each other, respecting and listening to each other. But if you continue to remain in this same spiritual drought, know that you will be deserving of the named curse of the Lord’s anointed servants, which will close the doors of heaven and earth for you… The voice of the Holy Gospel sounds loudly for you—repent, repent, repent—for the love of God, the Holy Church, the Nation, and the Motherland. God be our refuge, helper, and guide," the statement reads.