Doctor of political sciences, historian Armen Ayvazyan writes:
And so, at the invitation of the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, on February 16-19, the Episcopal Assembly of the Armenian Apostolic Church will be held not in Armenia, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, but in Austria, in the city of St. Pölten.
What does this mean?
This decision is just a reflection of the historical and politically sad reality. CURRENTLY, THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA IS DEPRIVED OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO OPERATE FREELY. The Church is not only not protected, but also exposed to open oppression and persecution. arrested archbishops, sectarian fighting in the courtyards of the Mother See and other cathedrals with police forces protecting it, gross interference of the state power and judicial bodies in the internal life and self-governance processes of the church, the imposition of intra-church and denominational canonical changes, insults, threats, insults and blackmail from the highest levels of the state almost every day - this is the environment in which the Armenian Church survives today.
Although I haven't had the opportunity to meet our high-ranking churchmen and discuss the situation with them for quite a long time, I can still roughly imagine the motives of the Episcopal Assembly moving to distant Austria.
The point is that the Pashinyan junta in RA could disrupt the work of the bishops by various means, resorting to the lowest quality provocations.
Let's list only some of the possible dangers.
The junta could:
• Under one pretext or another, to organize the gathering of bishops loyal to Garegin II at the "Zvartnots" airport, even putting drugs or other prohibited items in their pockets or bags (witness the case of Arshak Arshak's arrest), and then prohibiting their entry into Armenia altogether.
• eavesdrop on private conversations of congregants, then falsify and publish them using artificial intelligence (witness: the case of the arrest of Reverend Bagrat);
• on the days of the meeting, once again, sectarians and Communist Party activists fill the courtyards of the Mother See, organizing noisy "demonstrations".
• to demonstratively surround the Mother See with police forces, trying to influence the decisions to be made by the congregation by forceful intimidation,
• cut off the power to the Mother See for hours during the meeting,
• etc., etc.
The anti-church campaign instigated by the junta proves once again that the interests of the current government of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people do not coincide at any point. Moreover, they are in direct opposition. When the government declares war on its own Church, it actually declares war on its own people, on its national identity, historical memory and spiritual foundations. In any case, the right side in this historical conflict is the Armenian people.
"EJMIATSIN, THE GREAT MONASTERY,
HOLY BELIEF LIBRARY,
WHICH ARMOR YOUR URANA:
BOTH EYES WILL BE BLIND.
(Lazar A. Jahketsi, 1737)
