Church property as pretext for speculation: Yesai Artenyan

Turning questions about the preservation and use of Church property into personal accusations against the Catholicos of All Armenians, and presenting buildings and structures allocated to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin as the personal property of the Armenian Patriarch, is an obvious manipulation and a shameful lie, Yesai Artenyan, a priest and director of the Information System of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, wrote on Facebook.

“False claims about the ‘seizure and conversion of public buildings into ruins or commercial premises,’ and the publication of photographs of these buildings, give no one the right to make blatantly false and unfounded accusations.

Statements about protecting the educational interests of children are also unconvincing when the authorities themselves obstruct initiatives that serve those interests. A telling example is the new educational hub initiated by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin under the Tumo Center program. This initiative, aimed at providing modern education to about 2,500 children and teenagers, is facing artificial obstacles created by the authorities.

The large-scale construction and restoration work carried out under the Armenian Patriarch, aimed at preserving and enriching the national spiritual and cultural heritage, is eloquent and visible proof of the Church’s consistent efforts. Silence about these realities distorts the truth and misleads the public,” the priest said.