Hagop Comments: "he held up a mirror"

On June 4, 2025, Hoory Minoyan posted an article in the “Armenian Weekly”, titling it: “Profane and unbecoming”, Church leaders condemn Pashinyan’s attack on Clergy”. Several readers commented to the posting, including I.  The following day, a reader by the name Hagop commented too. His comment stood apart. It addressed the matter and spared commentators, dissenting or not.  In short, in address, in context and in civility, while making a forceful note, it was a rare comment, as comments mostly go. I reproduced the comment here to archive it and offer it to interested readers who may not have read the comment.  Vaհe H  Apelian

«Enough with the Manufactured Outrage: The Church Must Also Face Accountability

Let’s be honest.

What we’re witnessing is not a “campaign” against the Armenian Apostolic Church, but rather the overdue unraveling of an untouchable institution’s immunity to scrutiny. Prime Minister Pashinyan didn’t wage war on the Church—he held up a mirror. And the reflection has made many uncomfortable, particularly those who’ve long used the cloak of sanctity to deflect from dysfunction, privilege, and hypocrisy.

The emotional avalanche triggered by the Prime Minister’s remarks should alarm us—not because he dared to question the Church’s role or criticize its condition—but because so many still believe that the Church is above reproach. This sanctified status has allowed generations of leaders within the Mother See to operate with minimal transparency and little civic accountability while benefiting from state funds, public trust, and near-absolute reverence.

Let’s unpack the facts.

Churches as storage rooms? That’s not fiction—it’s visible, documented reality. Photos from across Armenia show sacred buildings used to hoard construction materials, forgotten furniture, and personal junk. That is not piety; it’s negligence. Pashinyan didn’t fabricate this—it is symptomatic of a leadership failure within the Church, and it deserves public scrutiny.

And what was the Church’s response? Not repentance. Not a commitment to clean up and reform. But outrage, deflection, and name-calling. A bishop openly calling the Prime Minister “the chief madman of the country”? Others accusing him of serving “anti-Armenian forces”? This is the reaction of a deeply defensive institution, not a humble spiritual guardian.

More telling is the sudden invocation of Azerbaijan and “external enemies” every time the Church is challenged internally. This tired tactic—equating criticism with treason—is precisely what authoritarian regimes do to silence dissent. It’s absurd to suggest that confronting domestic corruption or incompetence is somehow “doing Baku’s bidding.” If anything, ignoring the rot at home is what weakens us in the face of our true adversaries.

Let us not forget: the Church has itself asked the government for help in preserving sacred sites—then resisted when it arrived in the form of honest assessment. You can’t demand public funding and moral influence while refusing public oversight. You can’t claim the moral high ground while dodging questions about personal conduct, financial management, and institutional accountability.

As for the Prime Minister’s personal tone—yes, it was jarring, perhaps deliberately so. But maybe it’s time we stop pearl-clutching over tone and start grappling with substance. Armenians have heard centuries of formal pleasantries while real problems festered. Maybe a little shock is exactly what was needed to shake the Church from its insular slumber.

This isn’t about tearing down the Church. It’s about asking it—finally—to rise to the moral and spiritual standard it so often demands from others. That requires humility, not hubris. Cooperation, not confrontation.

The Armenian people are not turning away from faith. But many are turning away from blind reverence toward institutions that have failed to modernize, adapt, and lead in the face of crisis. Faith endures. Trust must be earned.

If the Armenian Apostolic Church truly seeks to be a beacon for a new Armenia, it must welcome the disinfecting power of truth—not recoil from it.»