Roadmap After the Removal of Gtrich Nersisyan: Nikol Pashinyan

Armenian Apostolic Church roadmap following the removal of Gtrich Nersisyan: This was reported by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his Facebook page.

“1. Appointment of a Patriarchal Locum Tenens in accordance with the operating mechanisms of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

2. Adoption of the Statute of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The statute should address:

• a) The rules of moral conduct for clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and guarantees for their enforcement,
• b) The financial transparency of the Armenian Apostolic Church and guarantees for its enforcement,
• c) The necessity of the Armenian Apostolic Church being apolitical and guarantees for its enforcement,
• d) The correspondence of the activities of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Tax Legislation of the Republic of Armenia and guarantees for enforcement, with the legislation subsequently providing guarantees that taxes and dues paid from the activities of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the state budget will be fully returned to the Armenian Apostolic Church,
• e) Social guarantees for clergy and assurances that they will be able to fully benefit from the pension system, income tax returns, social credits, and universal health insurance (currently, clergy mostly do not take advantage of these systems due to the lack of a recorded payment system).

3. Elections for the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, according to the new Statute.

P.S. The statute will be discussed and adopted by the ecclesiastical body with the relevant authority. In the event of mediation by the Locum Tenens, the Government will provide advisory support for the development of the draft statute,” the Prime Minister wrote.