The church raised its moral voice, refused to bow to the power that brought disaster

Former Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan writes on his Facebook page: "In the midst of a deep national crisis, after the loss of Artsakh, the displacement of more than 120,000 compatriots, and the threat of new territorial concessions, one would have expected the Armenian leadership to show humility, moral clarity, and promote national unity. Instead, Nikol Pashinyan initiated an unprecedented and reprehensible rhetorical campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy. The latest blasphemous expressions are not only inappropriate for the head of the state, but also dangerous and corrosive to the foundations of our statehood. What is the Church's "sin" in Pashinyan's eyes? That he dared to speak, raising his moral voice at a time when many institutions were silenced or subdued. The fact that it refuses to bow to a government that is responsible for the military disaster, public demoralization and erosion of Armenia's sovereignty. The fact that it continues to embody and transmit a centuries-old national identity, which neither revolution nor oppression can eliminate. Paradoxically, the Church did not declare war against the state. it is the state that has declared war against the Church. The fact that these attacks coincided with the international conference of the World Council of Churches held in Bern with the participation of the Catholicos of All Armenians and Cilicia is very telling, the purpose of which was to protect the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage of Nagorno Karabakh. The Church bears the moral weight of history, the trust of the people and an identity that stands above the politics of the past and the catastrophic failures of the present. Pashinyan sees it, and it scares him. This is not the first time in our history that the Church has risen as the guardian of the people in the face of political collapse and ontological threat. For centuries, during the years of foreign rule and the Soviet years, the Armenian Church preserved our collective soul and spoke on our behalf when no one else could. And today he is doing that work again, not as a political force, but as the conscience of the nation. Pashinyan's shameful attacks against the Church are not just words. They are an attempt to humiliate and delegitimize the only institution that remains independent of its control. However, the stronger the attacks, the more visible its insecurity becomes, and the more the people realize who really stands by their side. This is not just a clash between Pashinyan's supporters and the spiritual class. This is a battle for the spirit of Armenia. And when the government chooses to humiliate the Church instead of protecting its people, it loses both moral authority and national legitimacy."