Hraparak daily of Armenia writes as follows in particular: Yesterday, the CC [i.e. the ruling Civil Contract Party and its parliamentary faction] assured that they had not been officially informed about participation in the liturgy at the Mother See [of Holy Etchmiadzin] on December 28. [PM Nikol] Pashinyan’s spokesperson stated that the church of the upcoming liturgy is not yet known.

According to reports, Pashinyan has decided at all costs to resolve the issues concerning the [Armenian Apostolic] Church and the Catholicos [of All Armenians, Karekin II], to enter the Mother Cathedral [of Etchmiadzin] together with renegade bishops, his mob, and before that, through the security forces, to “cleanse” the church of clergy, if necessary also arresting other close associates of the Catholicos so that he kneels. He [i.e. Pashinyan] has decided at all costs to resolve the issue before the [parliamentary] elections [in Armenia slated for next June].

In addition to demands from external forces, he believes also that if he succeeds in implementing his plan, public apathy will increase, and winning the elections will no longer require major effort.

The ordinary citizen will begin to hate not only Pashinyan, who brought the church to its knees, but also the incapable opposition that failed to prevent all this.

Last week, he [i.ee. Pashinyan] was conducting a test through the 10 renegades to gauge the resources of the opposition, of those defending the Veharan [i.e. the official residence and workplace of the Catholicos of All Armenians], [to understand] how many people would stand against him and how many troops need to be involved to seize the Veharan.