A law restricting the rights of the Church to dispose of religious objects was adopted in Armenia

The Armenian Parliament approved in the second and final reading a bill that significantly restricts the right of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) to freely dispose of its religious sites. The move, perceived by the opposition as another anti-church attack, obliges the AAC to obtain the government’s consent for the transfer of any religious buildings included in the state registers of monuments to a third party.

According to TASS, the amendments were made to the law “On Preservation and Use of Immovable Monuments of History and Culture and Historical Environment.”

According to the new provisions, religious buildings officially registered as monuments can now be transferred into the ownership of third parties – both with compensation and without compensation – only with the consent of the government. Moreover, the government reserves the right to reject such requests if it deems that the proposed transfer of property will not bring public benefit or the object will not be used for its intended purpose.

During the discussion of the bill, opposition factions harshly criticized it, calling it “another anti-church move” on the part of the current government. They reminded that this law is a continuation of the policy manifested earlier: thus, on February 11, the parliament already passed a law that deprived the Armenian Apostolic Church of the right to receive state and community land as property. This emphasizes the growing tension between the secular authorities of Armenia and the AAC.

To remind, we reported earlier that the bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), gathered in Austria, issued a statement reaffirming their loyalty to Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. This important event took place against the backdrop of increasing repression by the Armenian authorities against the Church and the arrests of a number of its hierarchs.