Author Lusine Balyan

Today, in the Christian world, there are two large groups of Orthodox churches, which have the same origins, but were divided in the 5th century. The Armenian Apostolic Church belongs to the family of the Ancient Eastern Orthodox churches, does not belong to the family of the Orthodox churches of the Byzantine tradition, and is Orthodox in the sense of true faith. Our holy patriarchs, the fathers of our church, were called defenders of Orthodoxy, Orthodox enlighteners.

One more will soon be added to the dozens of worries of those living in border and remote villages. According to the order of the Ministry of Education, Science and Higher Education, schools with a small number of students must be liquidated. According to this calculation, 229 schools have appeared on the list, of which 48 are in Syunik and 47 in Shirak. We have tried to summarize what serious problems specialists and community residents see in our video.

The Holy See strongly condemns the inclusion of objectionable provisions on the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the election program of the “Civil Contract” party. The party’s election program includes the mandatory agenda of Church reform, revision of the charter, removal of the Catholicos of All Armenians, and holding new Catholicosate elections, which is a clear violation of the constitutional order, the right of the Church to self-government, as well as the fundamental international principles of freedom of conscience and religion.

 

In the main stage of the trial, the court will examine the presented evidence. The defense has principled objections and disagreements. According to them, not only is the evidence in the case not individualized, which does not allow us to determine who exactly the evidence refers to, but the recordings and materials included in the case have not yet been properly examined.

 

At the court hearing in the case of the brother of the Catholicos of All Armenians and his son, the defense lawyers demanded to summon to court and interrogate the police officer of the Vagharshapat community department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who conducted the interrogation of the main witness in the case, Garnik Ghazaryan. The defense suspects that Garnik Ghazaryan testified against the Nersisyans under the influence of Harutyun Mkrtchyan. According to the lawyers, there are obvious contradictions and contradictory facts between the witness’s testimony and the interrogations, but the most remarkable thing is that the personal data field of the witness in the testimony contains Harutyun Mkrtchyan’s data. The judge granted the lawyers’ motions and the police officer who interrogated the witness and the police officer accompanying the “Republic” party’s campaign will be interrogated.

 

The defense has filed a motion with the court to request from the NSS the operational data on the basis of which wiretaps were conducted for about a year. The attorneys argue that if these materials are not provided to the court, all evidence obtained in the case should be recognized as illegal due to the lack of a legal basis. Public prosecutors have argued that the motion should be rejected or postponed at this stage, since evidence related to the results of operational-investigative measures has not yet been received.

 

 

A foot washing ceremony was held in all churches. In the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, according to tradition, the ceremony was presided over by the Patriarch of All Armenians. During the foot washing ceremony, accompanied by prayers and hymns, His Holiness Karekin II, the Patriarch of All Armenians, following the example of Christ, first blessed the water and oil placed on the altar, then knelt and washed the feet of 12 people symbolizing the disciples of Christ.

 

The secondary school in the border village of Aghin will soon be closed by government decision. The village is one of the most depopulated communities in Armenia. It is located in the northwestern part of Armenia, on the Armenian-Turkish border. This settlement in Shirak province was founded in 1872 by Armenians who migrated from Kars and Mush.

At the hearing in the “Holy Struggle” case, the court accepted the written evidence presented by the prosecution in full and decided to question 34 witnesses. The court also granted the defense’s motion to call Garnik Danielyan and Hovhannes Avetisyan as witnesses, but at the same time found the request to question high-ranking officials, the Chairman of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Prosecutor General, unacceptable. The defense claims that the country’s top leadership is making public statements about the case from the highest rostrums that are absent from the criminal proceedings.