"Don't expect the Armenian Apostolic Church to act according to the logic of the opposition party." Hakob Badalyan

Political commentator Hakob Badalyan's Telegram post: "

I came across a number of publications where the authors express from bewilderment to anger that the Armenian Apostolic Church is relating to the participants of the so-called National Prayer Breakfast gathering in Yerevan. There are AAC representatives at the gathering, and there even seems to be information that the Catholicos of All Armenians will receive the delegates.

This confusion and anger is due to the fact that the Yerevan event of the National Prayer Breakfast essentially has de facto government patronage. Let me also remind you that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was in the United States in February of this year, including to participate in the annual National Prayer Breakfast gathering.

It is known that this initiative, which already has a history of decades, is essentially an economic and political tool of American policy with a religious undertone. The scope of the National Prayer Initiative includes not only religious groups and organizations, but also officials, businessmen, etc. from various countries, including Islamic countries. It is obvious that we are talking about a rather influential religious-economic-political initiative.

As I myself have had the opportunity to express my opinion during this time, in my deep conviction, the “motivational” basis of Nikol Pashinyan’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church also lies in the global motives and goals of that initiative, in the context of which the Armenian Apostolic Church, perhaps modest in its resources, but with its confessional depth, is a rather influential and strong “competitor” that must be subdued. And for this, certainly one of the best means that can be used is the internal political layers of Armenia.

In this context, the Armenian National Assembly's relationship with that initiative causes confusion and surprise among many.

In practice, however, I think that bewilderment and anger, or surprise, are in vain.

On that occasion, let me once again speak about the global context of the realities of the church.

DO NOT EXPECT THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH TO ACT WITH THE LOGIC OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY.

Moreover, the logic of the ruling power's actions is also aimed at bringing the church into that very field. Because, these actions will have a realistic prospect of success precisely when the Armenian Apostolic Church essentially "transforms" into an opposition force, rather than remaining an institution with a global scale and extremely deep historical and doctrinal roots.

As I have repeatedly noted, the challenge to the Armenian Apostolic Church is not Nikol Pashinyan, it is with Nikol Pashinyan. It is with Nikol Pashinyan, but broader and more inclusive, more hybrid and multi-layered. Do not measure the behavior of the church in black and white logic, because what is against the church is not simply black, but, let me say, very colorful, with a number of meanings of that word, both literal and figurative.

Therefore, very delicate work is required with all those colors, rather than a confrontation based solely on the logic of black, which would essentially be equivalent to fighting a scarecrow, in the event that the real competitors "surround" from behind.

This does not mean at all that the church leadership is doing everything correctly and flawlessly. There is no such institution. But, the work is in the field of content, in the field of actions aimed at the effectiveness of relations and communication, and not in the model. The model is chosen correctly: calmness, exclusion of illusions and emotions in the matter of abrupt actions, in other words, “ringing bells,” measuring the situation not according to the oppositional views and socio-psychological ideas of the supporting public, but according to its own institutional caliber and institutional memory of the historical-doctrinal process.

As they say, if you can’t defeat your opponent on the battlefield, you should try to keep him as close as possible in order to control his behavior. And for this purpose, it is also necessary to communicate with him, while he is many times stronger and more extensive than you. I repeat, the challenge for the Armenian National Congress is not Nikol Pashinyan. And the current behavior of the Armenian National Congress, at least for now, suggests that the scope of the real challenges and the “source of motivation” are imagined quite accurately. Accordingly, one should not demand or expect the Armenian National Congress to be an opposition force. The strength of the Armenian National Congress is not to be or not to become one.