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• Yerevan-Echmiadzin-Diaspora: Sargsyan says church separate from state, part of Armenian life

A poll was conducted 4 days ago in Yerevan to see how popular this crooked catholicos was, and the surprising answer was: 94.3% of people(2,500 people polled through telephone) thought that this catholicos is the most crooked person with ties to high level criminal elements in Armenia and abroad. His sexual escapades are well documented, So, today Armenians are held hostage by crooked politicians ...

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President Serzh Sargsyan stressed the importance of the church-state relations, especially “at the current historical stage for the country”, as he spoke before participants of the third meeting, at the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin Monday, of top clerical representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s worldwide dioceses.

“Let’s admit it. The regulation of church-state relations is not easy. The church must not interfere with the state’s affairs and the state must not interfere with the church’s affairs. This simple formula, however, is difficult to apply in life, because in our case it is nearly impossible to distinguish the border where our spiritual culture ends and where our secular culture, in particular political culture, begins,” said Sargsyan. “I think that today we are close to the golden mean… Time, of course, will make its unavoidable corrections in this sphere, but in essence we are on the right path. State structures are ready to continue and deepen this cooperation that already yields its positive results.”

His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, who chaired the inter-diocesan forum, presented the works of the convention regarding the discussion and approval of a document on the Diocesan Statutes that is part of the General Statutes.

“The approval of a landmark document of diocesan and parochial statutes will create a reliable prospect for our church in terms of making the life of dioceses more organized,” said the Supreme Patriarch. “With the approval of this document we will make a considerable step in the process of the approval of the statutes of the Armenian church, at the same time reflecting the historical-canonic character of the Armenian church.”

And President Sargsyan described as “exceptionally important” the activities of the Armenian Church in Diaspora communities, saying that it is the most reliable cement uniting the nation.

“The Church’s precepts about single roots, single goals, common challenges and especially common future impart a new spirit to our sisters and brothers in the Diaspora and can lend wings even to the desperate ones. The united position of the entire Armenian nation is not only a spiritual, but also a political capital. It is unacceptable that this capital should be squandered on disputes around non-fundamental issues,” stressed the president.

Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan, also attending the inter-Diocesan meeting in Echmiadzin, emphasized the important role of the Armenian church in the life of the NKR. He also presented the successes achieve in various sectors of life in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as problems of Karabakh Armenians. President Sahakyan attached importance to continued support to Karabakh from the worldwide Armenian Diaspora.

During the meeting Armenian President Sargsyan also addressed the current Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and the Karabakh settlement process.

Sargsyan, in particular, reiterated that the process of normalization with Turkey does not in any way mean giving up efforts on the international recognition of the Genocide.

“As a reliable actor in the system of international relations, the Republic of Armenia has always remained committed to the fulfillment of obligations that it assumed and is ready to move forward in accordance with the letter and spirit of the signed protocols to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe,” said Sargsyan.

Responding to concerns voiced by some of the present that the Turkish side is trying to link the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, President Sargsyan repeated that these two processes are not connected with each other in any way. According to Sargsyan, Armenia is taking the way of settling these problems separately and is firm in its viewpoint that solutions are needed that would ensure durable and stable peace and development in the region.

The president said that the ratification of the signed protocols and establishment of relations without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe is also supported by the broad international community. Sargsyan also emphasized that Armenia does have its “strategic and tactical considerations in connection with possible scenarios of developments in the process of settling relations with Turkey and depending on developments it will act accordingly.”

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, also attending the meeting, underlined the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the preservation of national identity. The premier expressed confidence that the results of the meeting will help the Church boost its mission and effectively overcome contemporary challenges.