lragir.am   (21.06.2013)

Primate of the Ararat Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan has been in public focus for a long time now, defaming the church. Political scientist Stepan Danielyan commented for Lragir.am on the famous offshore story. According to the political scientist, any person who committed a crime must be punished despite their profession. Danielyan says the fact that Kchoyan is the primate of Ararat Diocese complicates the situation because a clergyman has more obligations that an ordinary citizen who is accountable only to the law. Breaking all the religious rules such as virginity, chastity and modesty, Kchoyan not only defames himself but also the church and other clergymen. Stepan Danielyan said that there are unnatural relations between the church and the government of Armenia, which is granting more and more privileges to the church to engage in business activities. Just like officials, clerics also have income from unknown sources, and I think it is time for them to start submitting declarations, said Danielyan. According to him, there is also the other side of the issue: are the financial activities of the church transparent to the citizens of Armenia? Stepan Danielyan says the church acts just like the government officials. Budgets and deals of both are not visible to the society. Since the church insists that it is a national church, its assets are also supposed to be national, so it should submit reports on them. According to him, its budget spending should be discussed publicly. He offers to go to Echmiadzin and see what large-scale reconstruction has been carried out and how the appearance of the church has been changed. According to him, such projects must be approved in public discussions. According to Stepan Danielyan, the one responsible for this situation is the government because it is up to it to establish the rules of interaction of the church, state and society. Today’s government does not need transparency, Danielyan concludes.