Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On November 01, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, was present at the ongoing Supreme Spiritual Council meeting presided by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

 Welcoming the RA Prime Minister’s visit to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Catholicos of All Armenians referred to the issues on the Agenda of the four-day meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council and presented those to the members of the Supreme Spiritual Council. The Pontiff of All Armenians stressed the importance of such meetings to discuss both the Church issues and the challenges facing the homeland, as well as the issues bothering our people.

 Following this, the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan conveyed his remarks to the attendees. “Of course, there is the need of such kind of meetings and, perhaps, even more often than it happens. In general, of course, as His Holiness stated, the discussions concerning to the State-Church relationships are very important, especially in the new situation and new conditions that we have in the Republic of Armenia today.

 These conditions and relationships have many subtleties and I hope that today we will have the opportunity to reflect on the important details of those subtleties.

 In general, when it comes to the State-Church relations, firstly, I understand not only the arrangement of the material relationships, which also have essential importance, but the discussion in terms of the spiritual life, spiritual values and spiritual atmosphere...”, stated the RA Prime Minister. In his remarks, Mr. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the importance of solving the problems in society through open, frank, and direct dialogues and discussions in the atmosphere of mutual respect.

 Then, the SSC members had the opportunity to discuss with the RA Prime Minister the life of the Motherland, as well as, the various issues and challenges bothering the Armenian Church and the people in the Diaspora. In particular, they reflected on the issues such as the development of the effectiveness of the Church-State relationships, the strengthening of the spiritual life, as well as, the relations between Armenia and the Diaspora, the national identity, the preservation of the historical sanctuaries and heritage and other issues.

 At the conclusion of the meeting, the Catholicos of All Armenians; expressing his gratitude on the occasion of the meeting, reaffirmed, that the Armenian Church, as throughout its history, will support the Armenian statehood contributing to the strengthening of the Homeland and the well-being of the Armenians in Diaspora.