Father Asoghik Karapetyan criticized state officials’ attitude toward the Church, writing on Facebook that the state and its representatives should have listened to and addressed long-standing concerns raised by the Armenian Church.

He stressed that churches and monasteries across Armenia are restored or built solely through resources gathered by the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy. “Everyone is obliged to contribute to the homeland, both morally and materially. This awareness must be cultivated in families and especially in schools,” he wrote.

He added that faith-based monuments—the holy churches and temples—constitute the greatest share of Armenia’s national heritage. The teaching of “History of the Armenian Church” in schools served this sacred mission, he noted.

“In today’s reality, when national identity and responsibility toward the homeland are weakening and being deliberately weakened, such statements—from ordinary people to top officials—are sadly becoming commonplace,” he wrote.

He condemned derogatory and offensive statements toward religion, saying: “Issues of national life must not be met with degrading labels or expressions offensive to religious sentiments.”

He reiterated that since the end of Soviet Armenia, the renovation and beautification of churches have been conducted solely through Church means. “There is no state support—except for those churches still under state control and not returned to the Armenian Church.”

“The state and its officials should have first paid attention to the problems the Church has been voicing for years—for the betterment of our homeland and strengthening of national life,” he concluded.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to clerical criticism after comparing churches to “storage rooms” during a cabinet meeting, made offensive remarks toward clergy on Facebook. His wife Anna Hakobyan echoed these comments, calling clerics ‘the country’s top pedophiles’.