The Church Will Not Be Part of Your Faction: Ruben Rubinyan

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan made a Facebook post addressing the statements of individuals and organizations defending Catholicos Karekin II. The politician pointed out that those defending Karekin II are not doing so to protect faith or ecclesiastical rules but are driven by political interests.

“The absurdity of the situation is that there isn’t a single person who would say they support Karekin II because he has been unjustly accused of having a child. Even Ktrich Nersisyan doesn't defend himself with that argument,” Rubinyan wrote, adding that the latter has violated the vow of celibacy.

According to him, the current defenders are supporting not the Church, but their opposition partners and former political leaders—Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan. “If you want to defend him, it’s your right, but the Church is not obliged to be part of your faction or to serve as a political shield. And that will certainly not happen,” Ruben Rubinyan concluded.