Legal expert says priests barred from prisons

PanARMENIAN.Net - Doctor of Law Gevorg Danielyan has stated that after the “effective state control” of spiritual service in the armed forces, similar steps have now been extended to penitentiary institutions.

He emphasized that this not only clearly contradicts doctrinal norms but also violates secular legislation.

According to Danielyan, the Armenian Apostolic Church has been deprived of the ability to appoint its own spiritual representatives, while only a limited number of clergy—who have signed contracts with state bodies and receive salaries—have been assigned to service, allegedly joining an anti-church campaign.

“This not only directly contradicts doctrinal norms but also secular legislation, particularly Article 10 of the Law ‘On Relations Between the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church’: ‘The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church has the right to have permanent spiritual representatives in hospitals, orphanages, boarding institutions, military units, and places of detention, including pre-trial detention centers.’ In fact, there is hardly any article in this law that has not been violated, starting from the removal of the subject ‘History of the Armenian Church’ through subordinate legal acts. Notably, instead of amending the existing law, preference is given to simply ignoring it.

Similarly, following recent changes in the Pardon Commission, a person appointed without the consent of the Armenian Church cannot be considered its representative.

Thus, Archbishop Bagrat has not refused Holy Communion altogether, but has refused participation in an unlawfully ‘state-controlled’ service,” the statement reads.

Earlier, the Sacred Struggle movement clarified that Archbishop Bagrat’s refusal of Holy Communion was due to a decision by the Ministry of Justice allegedly banning clergy appointed by the Armenian Apostolic Church from entering detention facilities. It stated that contracts had been signed with individual clerics bypassing the Mother See and ignoring legal regulations, prompting Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan’s decision.