Wednesday,
Pashinian, Entourage Shun Armenian Christmas Mass
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- Catholicos Garegin II (C) leads a Christmas Mass at Saint Gregory the
Illuminator’s Cathedral in Yerevan, January 6, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian declined to attend on Wednesday a Christmas mass
celebrated by Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church increasingly at loggerheads with Armenia’s government.
Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan and other key members of Pashinian’s
political team were also conspicuously absent. Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian
was the only senior state official present at the liturgy held at Saint Gregory
the Illuminator’s Cathedral in Yerevan.
Pashinian congratulated Armenians on Christmas, marked by their ancient church
on January 6, with an excerpt from the Gospel posted on his Facebook page. His
spokeswoman, Mane Gevorgian, said later in the morning that he did not go to the
mass because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Due to the pandemic situation, the prime minister is self-isolated,” Gevorgian
told the Armenpress news agency. She did not specify whether Pashinian has taken
a coronavirus test.
Pashinian already went into self-isolation in June after announcing that he and
members of his family have tested positive for COVID-19. He claimed to have
recovered from the disease a week later.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian kisses a cross held by Catholicos
Garegin II during an Easter Mass at Yerevan's St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral, April 21, 2019.
A group of Armenian opposition supporters warned on Tuesday that they will try
to bar Pashinian from entering the Yerevan cathedral if he decides to attend the
Christmas mass.
Virtually all major opposition groups blame Pashinian for Armenia’s defeat in
the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh and want him to resign and hand over power to
an interim government that would hold fresh parliamentary elections within a
year.
Garegin and other senior clergymen in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora have
publicly backed the opposition demands rejected by Pashinian. Some Armenian
Apostolic Church priests demonstratively attended recent anti-government rallies
in Yerevan.
Another priest based in the southeastern town of Sisian publicly refused to
shake Pashinian’s hand when the prime minister visited a local church last
month. Garegin’s office pointedly declined to criticize the priest’s behavior
condemned by Pashinian’s supporters.
Armenia -- Worshippers attend a Christmas Mass at Saint Gregory the
Illuminator’s Cathedral in Yerevan, January 6, 2021.
Garegin mentioned the Karabakh war and its “disastrous consequences” in a homily
read out during Wednesday’s church service attended by hundreds of believers. He
lamented “destructive mistakes” which he said were made before the six-week
hostilities.
“Necessary vigilance was not shown in the face of the threats of an unstable
peace and war, the interests of the homeland and the people were subordinated to
individual aspirations and goals. God-rejecting spirit and alien ideologies and
habits permeated our society,” he said.
“Let us stand strong in the face of the lethal test for our nation and people
with hope and faith, girded with the life-giving power of the Lord. Let us gain
strength to rise from disasters, to dispel this heavy darkness that is forced
upon us with heavenly support, and to illumine the new horizons of our lives,”
added the Catholicos.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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