Armenian Diaspora Voices Concerns Over Arrests & Church Interference
Attempts to interfere in the Armenian Church’s internal affairs are a desire to seize control of a center of power, Gerard Guerguerian, international lawyer and member of the Armenian diaspora, told Sputnik Africa.
He cited the recent arrests of prominent religious and public figures, including businessman Samvel Karapetyan, as evidence of this.
According to him, the Catholicos is “the equivalent of a papacy, but smaller than that of the Vatican.”
“Wanting the Catholicos’ resignation, whatever the reason, whether he has committed a fault or not, has always been resolved within the Church and will continue to be resolved within the Church,” Guerguerian said.
Karapetyan’s popularity is causing the authorities concern, as the public recognizes both his economic influence and his philanthropic contributions to the Church and charitable causes, the expert noted.
“One could easily have imagined that if there were so-called elements of money laundering, on the one hand, it would have been known and, on the other, proceedings should have been opened against him long ago,” he said.
