Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan responded to journalists in the National Assembly regarding accusations against the government and recent tensions with the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Asked whether a Catholicos potentially having a child was more damaging to Armenian statehood than the Civil Contract party’s governance during a period marked by war, casualties, and the loss of Artsakh, Khudatyan replied that the administration is working to strengthen the state.

“We are doing everything to strengthen Armenian statehood. As the Prime Minister explained, it’s not that the war happened under our rule, but that we were in power during the war. It’s not wordplay,” Khudatyan said, as reported by Panorama.am .

When asked about Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s and his wife Anna Hakobyan’s derogatory comments about the Church, Khudatyan declined to elaborate, saying, “The Prime Minister has already commented. I have nothing to add.”

He said that the issue of clerical celibacy is a spiritual one and should not be confused with personal matters.

“A public question was raised regarding one of the key tenets of the Church. I believe there should be a public response. If this concerned someone living a secular life, it would be a personal issue. But for celibate clergy—priests, bishops, archbishops—celibacy is not a personal matter. It’s a core church requirement and a defining distinction among clergy. The question was asked in that context. If I were a Church representative, I would respond publicly.”

Khudatyan refuses the narrative that the government is conducting an anti-Church campaign.

“The claim that we are attacking the Church or its clergy is not true. Several of my colleagues have addressed this multiple times. Yes, there are many decent and honorable clerics in the Armenian Apostolic Church,” he added.

Prime Minister Pashinyan previously responded to clerical criticism that followed his comparison of churches to storage sheds, posting Facebook messages containing offensive remarks toward clergy. His wife Anna Hakobyan also joined in. Pashinyan further stated that the state should play a central role in selecting the Catholicos. In another post, he questioned whether Catholicos Karekin II has upheld his vow of celibacy, stating that if it is proven otherwise, Karekin II cannot serve as the Catholicos.

The Mother See responded: “Such condemnable actions serve the ambitions of foreign anti-Armenian forces and partly align with Azerbaijani propaganda aimed at slandering the Armenian people and Church.”