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The head of Armenian Apostolic Church-Gugarats diocese Sepuh bishop Chuljyan considers the present period as a period of temptation. Armenian traditional religion having 2000 years’ history is under the risks of attacks by different religious movements and if it continues like this Armenian statehood will undergo a shock.

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The head of Gugarats diocese is surprised how Armenian people happened to be a target for different sects. He qualifies the penetration of various religious movements into Armenia as a challenge, which threatens the national entity.
“We were shocked what happened. What attack was it on the religious field?”- asks the bishop and answers, that after the collapse of Soviet period the church faced difficulties. Uncertainty and separation, division among different religious movements started. As the political field was divided into pro-Russian, pro-European and pro-West, in the same way the religious filed is divided and does not differ from secular movements.
“But for whom this situation is advantageous?”- Sepuh bishop Chuljyan asks and is concerned that in these conditions when the world goes to one direction, the unity of small nations is most important. Otherwise, religious separation will lead to stopping the existence of the statehood. The bishop does not consider that one should be happy with the increase of religious movements. “Why to be glad, when one day each Armenian will represent one religious movement? Till when we will tolerate”-says bishop Chuljyan and notes that today tolerance typical of an Armenian leads to an extreme situation. Christians, whom stable, moral values are typical of, are in danger today. Together with this, the bishop does not oppose the values of Islam or Buddha, but for example, Islamic values are typical of the ethnic type of its nation.
Sepuh bishop Chuljyan finds that there exists a process of humiliating values considered sacred for religions. “And neither Islam nor another religion did harm Christian values as much as the European so-called developed states.” He brings an example the existence of clothes with the images of St. Godmother or Jesus Christ on them, or the latest events connected with The Da Vinci Code. “If Europe wants this, let it tell about it open”-he complains and compares the admission of religious movements into Armenia with chopping down the forests. It is like the thing as you enter somebody’s garden.
“Now any religious movement enters among people and destroys them”. The bishop does not consider that anyone’s enter into the forest is right. It must not be so that anyone who wants, can come into the forest and cut. He considers it destruction as long as you go to the others’ garden, public garden.

What does the destruction in the public garden mean, in this case in the garden of Armenian Apostolic Church? If a person chooses himself his own faith and goes away from the Armenian Apostolic Church, can it be considered as cutting trees in the forest? Can the person and the tree be identified? Bishop Chuljyan says that if the person is illiterate, he can become a victim of a prepared representative of a religious movement like the week tree gets lost among powerful ones in the forest.
He is sure that the religious directions which came from outside does not preach the Gospel at all.
“Let them show the part where it is written: go and separate Armenian people, because they are pagan”-the representative of the Armenian Apostolic church considers that the activities of religious movements in Armenia are senseless. “Where did you come? Why did you come if these people have their faith”-asks bishop Chuljyan. He thinks that the role of other religious movements is not the preaching of the Gospel. They use the Gospel for their goal, they came for person hunting and spoiling people, as “you must only teach kindness, you must spread the commandments of Christ”. “But if you separate the person from his people, his flock, you separate him in order to rule, then fairness cannot function in you”-bishop Chuljyan is assured. He is sure that if the Gospel were the basis of every religious movement, then there would be an enormous group of believers in an atmosphere of love and friendship. Finally, there would be unification. “Whereas the basis of their activity is the process of self-realization and privatization”-says the bishop. “A process of separation and destruction of the Armenian people is going on under the name of religion”.
What must the Armenian Apostolic Church do, so that religious organizations do not “seize” its member in different ways.
Armenian Apostolic Church displays flexibility in its spiritual-cultural policy. The head of Gugarats diocese says that the church rituals must be served in a new way at the same time maintaining the traditional. The bishop remembers Gevorg IV and Gevorg V Catholicoses who ordered to place benches in the church, to have an organ. “These are things which are gradually developing, and the church lets them in as long as they correspond to our nation, people and understanding” – says the bishop. But what is not understandable for our people Armenian Apostolic Church cannot accept. According to the bishop the necessity of commenting the rituals and holidays in a new way for modern people is indispensable. “To give the spiritual in today’s language to today’s people”-this is the way the bishop describes the necessity of changes which can be called a reform. This can also include the discussions going on around the law regulating the freedom of conscience. The bishop thinks that it is possible to fix by law and sub-legislative acts that each religious movement should know what to say, what to do, should have its field and responsibility. The bishop thinks that if the understanding of freedom of conscience were in order the sects would not destroy in this way. And if European structures are against the existence of the law regulating the freedom of conscience in Armenia? “It means that Europe wants the forest to be abolished, wants each personality to represent one religious movement”-he thinks. But the head of Gugarats diocese is against the viewpoint that Europe has not been destroyed, and says that Europe has been demoralized. On the other hand, everyone has its share of guilt in spreading such phenomena with silence and indifference. “We have our share in the cooking of the soup today”-the head of Gugarats diocese mentions the guilt of every Armenian and talks about educational work that is one of the ways out. Everyone should be in their places and must not criticize any sphere he wants, everyone should do his own business and meantime have participation in public life. This is how the bishop sees the mission of maintaining Armenian Apostolic Church and the unification of Armenian nation and state. During the whole course of its existence, Armenian Apostolic Church managed to maintain Armenian nation with its religion and culture even without statehood. Apostolic Church considers every representative of the Armenian nation its son, even if he is lost, attracted by other religious organizations. Armenian Apostolic Church is democratic and the bishop brings its example from ancient times. There was time when there was not the idea of selecting heads, but at that time Armenian Apostolic Church selected its pastors in that way. At the same time it was so tolerant and spread the democratic values among its believers so that in the absence of statehood, due to the church, Armenian nation could live among foreigners and could live together. “Because the church displayed flexibility”-says the head of Gugarats diocese. Now there are new challenges against which we should struggle.
“Finally, how long should we tease these people?”-asks the head of Gugarats diocese. And when it concerns the heads of the state he remembers what kind of education the authorities of Soviet period received. People of this mentality can treat religious values with indifference. “As a result there will be the Gospel in one hand and the stick in the other hand”-the bishop comments on the behaviour and violence of Armenian authorities against people during demonstrations. Anyhow, he thinks that relations with authorities should be deepened as the church is not fully present in the system of state governance.


Naira Bulghadaryan