The provision concerning the Armenian Apostolic Church will remain unchanged in Armenia’s draft new constitution, Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan said in an interview with Factor TV.
She explained that if the constitution did not specifically mention the Church, subsequently granting it privileges over other religious organizations through legislation would create an unconstitutional situation and constitute discrimination, according to Factor.am.
“We have a provision concerning the autonomy of religious organizations, their separation from the state, and equality among religious organizations. We all know that the Church is a religious organization. Not mentioning the Church in the constitution and then granting it privileges compared with other religious organizations would create a constitutional problem — a violation of the provision prohibiting discrimination. The Church is mentioned because, historically, yes, it has played a role in our lives, and its exceptional mission as such… That is the term used, and the state recognizes it,” she said.
Asked whether the draft proposes retaining the article concerning the Church exactly as it currently stands, Galyan confirmed: “In the draft, we propose preserving the article concerning the Church in its entirety… We propose making no changes to that article.”
At the same time, addressing the political activities of clergy members, the minister recalled that religious organizations are subject to clear restrictions.
“For example, religious organizations are prohibited from conducting election campaigns… Clergy members should attend to their own duties rather than, for example, engage in politics,” she said.
In 2020, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, presenting Armenia’s National Security Strategy, singled out the Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelical Churches among Armenian national values. In 2025, Alen Simonyan, who was serving as speaker of the National Assembly at the time, did not rule out the possibility of revising the constitutional provision concerning the Armenian Apostolic Church’s exceptional mission during the drafting of the new constitution.
In March 2026, Nikol Pashinyan stated that the Armenian Apostolic Church was explicitly mentioned in the draft constitution being prepared. Meanwhile, Miriam Lexmann, the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Armenia, recently commented on developments surrounding the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia. She said she had spoken with Armenian political representatives and sought to ask them to improve relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church.
