RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS LAW ON RELATIONS BETWEEN RA AND ARMENIAN
APOSTOLIC CHURCH

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 22 special sitting,
the RA National Assembly adopted in third reading and completely the
bill on relations between the RA and the Armenian Apostolic
Church. The bill was prepared by the NA Speaker Tigran Torosian.

According to the bill, the Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian
Apostolic Church as the national church with its center – Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin, the churches of the Catholicosate of the Great
House of Cilicia and the Jerusalem and Constantinople Patriarchates,
and its exclusive mission in spiritual life of the Armenian people,
development of its national culture and preservation of its national
identity.

The bill stipulates the role of the Church in the educational sphere.
It is also stipulated that the RA recognizes church weddings and
divorces if these were conducted in order envisaged by the agreement
signed between the government and the church. The church has the right
to receive tax-free donations and presents. Production and sale of
items of ritual significance is is also tax-free. According to the
bill, the RA recognizes secrecy of church confession. No one may
question a church confessor as witness about the facts which he learnt
during a confession.