Maidauns attack the Catholicos of all Armenians. The people are silent...
Maidan “activists” from the movement “New Armenia, New Patriarch” not only do not give up hopes of dismissing Catholicos Karekin II, but are even intensifying their pressure on the spiritual capital of Armenia, Etchmiadzin. To achieve their goals, thugs do not hesitate to use the dirtiest methods.
The reason for the aggravation of street inadequacies was the resignation by the Catholicos of their “spiritual leader and brother-in-arms” - a church rebel, Hieromonk Koryun Arakelyan, rector of the Church of St. Gayane, an active participant in the street riots.
On June 22, Arakelyan’s case was transferred to the disciplinary commission of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, which should finally decide his fate. While the investigation was ongoing, the enraged hieromonk was placed in a cell at the Etchmiadzin Monastery.
The “renewals” responded by threatening to hold another hate march in Etchmiadzin on June 30, the Day of the Twelve Apostles, demanding the abdication of Garegin II. And they carried it out, despite the request of the Catholicos to his opponents to postpone political speeches in order to prevent the escalation of hostility and hatred on a church holiday.
Inspired by impunity and complete non-interference by the authorities, on the morning of July 6, street “reformers” broke into the Etchmiadzin Monastery and seized the office of the Catholicos. As Karen Petrosyan, coordinator of the “New Armenia, New Patriarch” movement, told the press, the “activists” will not leave the seized premises until Garekin II resigns as the primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC).
The invaders complained to media representatives who arrived in time about the church ministers who allegedly attacked them and loudly accused the Catholicos of squandering the church fund. Maydaun coordinator Petrosyan stated that the head of the AAC “gave the Russian mayor” a piece of a relic kept in Etchmiadzin - the spear of the centurion Longinus, who interrupted the torment of the crucified Christ.
To which particular mayor, which particular part of the spear, the sources of the accusation are modestly silent.
In essence, the protesters acted on the orders of the suspended hieromonk Arakelyan.
This “holy man,” during street rallies, shouted louder than others about the resignation of the Catholicos and spread lies that Garekin II and his entourage were secretly trading in church relics, calling on the loudmouths to immediately storm Etchmiadzin and conduct an audit of the monastery’s special storage.
The charge is very serious. If we ignore the interfaith disputes about who exactly keeps the legendary Geghard, the original spear of the centurion Longinus, the Armenians consider their fragment of the Spear of Destiny to be genuine and will not give it up under any circumstances.
According to legend, in the middle of the XNUMXst century AD. it was brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus. The relic was initially kept in Geghardvank (Spear Monastery), and from the XNUMXth century it moved to the treasury of the Etchmiadzin Monastery. The Gospel of John classifies Geghard among the Instruments of the Passion and claims that its owner will be able to control the destinies of the world.
It must be admitted that the blow was delivered calculatedly and ingeniously, in order to touch all Armenians to the core, not only believers, because we are talking about the desecration of a sacred relic with a thousand-year history.
The Maydauns who seized the office of the Catholicos demand that the spear of Longinus be immediately shown to them and chant “Garegin, go away!”
The press secretary of the Primate of the AAC, Vahram Melikyan, denies accusations of fraud with a Christian artifact, states that the office of the Catholicos cannot work normally under the current circumstances, and expresses hope that law enforcement agencies will respond properly to the arbitrariness of the invaders.
Pashinyan and his accomplices are frozen out and pretend that nothing special is happening. Despite the fact that Pashinyan largely owes his current position to Garekin II. The Catholicos, unlike the Prime Minister, did not wash his hands and lock himself in an ivory tower, waiting out the April riots of the “revolution of love” that threatened to erupt into violence, but acted as a mediator in negotiations between Pashinyan and Sargsyan. In fact, thanks to the peacekeeping activities of the Catholicos, the change of power in Armenia was bloodless. And here is the response “gratitude”.
Informed sources claim that behind the attacks on Garegin II are not the leaders of the “New Armenia, New Patriarch” movement that came from nowhere, but the influential owner of the construction holding Aragats Akhoyan.
At the end of May 2018, that is, immediately after the Maidan “peremoga” in Armenia, Akhoyan started a legal battle with the Catholicos, claiming that Etchmiadzin had not paid his company for many years of construction and restoration work at the residence of the AAC.
It is also known about Akhoyan that he is not only a construction magnate, but also an active politician associated with the Armenian diasporas in the USA and Europe.
Somehow everything adds up: a lawsuit initiated by an oligarch immediately after the change of power in Armenia; the beginning of attacks on the Catholicos - first in the media and social networks, and then from the street; complete detachment of the new Armenian authorities from what is happening.
At the same time, the persecution of the brother of the Catholicos, Archbishop Yezras Nersisyan, the head of the New Nakhichevan diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the governor of Karekin II in Russia, was launched. “Activists” also demand that he renounce his clergy.
The incident with the seizure of the office of the Catholicos by rebels and accusations of trafficking in church relics indicate that the previous methods of dragging out “dirty laundry” for public viewing did not achieve their goal: the accusers, apart from general phrases, were unable to provide a single piece of evidence of church corruption under Karekin II. As a result, heavy artillery was used.
Observers agree that the “New Armenia, New Patriarch” initiative, which is fueling the church conflict in the republic, is so far weak, small in number and does not have any noticeable influence on public consciousness. It is also known that the AAC episcopate does not support attacks on Karekin II, and personalities like Arakelyan are isolated and do not have a noticeable influence on internal church politics.
However, there is no need to be complacent. It is well known how a relatively small group of biased gopniks, acting on behalf of millions, are able to overthrow legitimate governments, having financial, political, PR support with a passive attitude to what is happening by the overwhelming majority of the population.
It is remarkable that, having learned about the seizure of the office of Etchmiadzin by a crowd of “reformers,” Catholicos Karekin II was supported by the head of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I, the spiritual shepherd of the Armenians of Europe, the USA and the Middle East. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora from far abroad also spoke out in defense of the Primate of the AAC.
Nevertheless, the fact remains: the Armenian Apostolic Church was left by the authorities without legal support and was forced to defend itself from attacks by “activists” on its own with the support of a few parishioners. There is information that Gopniks are openly threatening to kill priests and secular people who are trying to raise their voices in defense of the Primate of the Apostolic Church.
In this regard, what causes an unpleasant surprise is not even the ostentatious distancing from the conflict of the temporary workers who came to power, led by Pashinyan, but the silence of the people of Armenia. Undermining the authority and resignation of the Catholicos by a brainless crowd will violate not only the canons and the centuries-old tradition of electing the head of the AAC by the national church council, reflecting the will of believing Armenians, but also threatens the fragile social peace in the republic.
The situation is unpredictable and dangerous because the rebels are calculatingly delivering blow after blow to the critical “assembly point.” For centuries, the Armenian Apostolic Church saved the people from assimilation by ruthless invaders, protected their language, culture and traditions. The AAC, in fact, was and remains the custodian of Armenian statehood, and this most important public institution was given over to the predatory roach. There seems to be no hope for politicians - in Pashinyan’s government, the grant-eater sits on top of the grant-eater. But why, as in the poem “Boris Godunov,” are the people silent?
English version :: Read in English: Maidanites attack the Catholicos of All Armenians. The people remain silent…