Pashinyan acknowledges problems in state–church relations in Armenia

Catholicos of All Armenians and Nikol Pashinyan. Photo: panorama.am

On January 25, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during a meeting with members of the Armenian community in Switzerland, stated that he considers the lack of transparency in the economic activities of the Armenian Apostolic Church to be a serious issue, news.am reports.

"One of the diaspora members asked me what problems exist between the government and the Church. I told him that, in my opinion, the Church must be transparent. Everyone expects transparency from the government – who we dine with, who we greet. And we agree with that demand. So why should the Church be exempt from transparency?" Pashinyan asked.

According to the prime minister, in a state where anyone conducting business pays taxes, “why doesn’t the Church pay taxes when it sells candles?” He added: “But we don’t intend to take this money into the state budget – we will return every last penny to the Church.”

Pashinyan also stressed that he does not aim to replace Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, as “the Church operates separately from the state.”

"In 2018, during the revolution, many people demanded that the Armenian Apostolic Church get a new Catholicos. I publicly declared that neither the people nor the government decides who becomes Catholicos. First of all, he is the Catholicos of All Armenians, not just of the Republic of Armenia. Although many suspected that we were provoking these sentiments, this was not true. The reality is that if we had orchestrated it, we would have achieved our goal very quickly in 2018," said Pashinyan.

Earlier, it was reported that archaeologists in Armenia had discovered the oldest known temple in the country.

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