The clergy of the Holy Mother of God and St. Anna churches have condemned the incident that occurred in the church on March 29.

“Any act of violence in a church is reprehensible and unacceptable. The church — above all and without exception, regardless of political views — is the house of God, where people, following the commandment of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to love one another, gather in love, compassion, and prayer.

We apologize to the devout believers who, upon coming to church, inadvertently became witnesses to this regrettable and unpleasant incident. We urge our faithful children to refrain from dangerous attempts to inject political processes into the church.

We pray that during Holy Week we may walk the path of the Passion of the Lord with repentance and, cleansed and strengthened, welcome the glorious Resurrection of Christ,” the statement by Father Zenon Barseghyan, the church’s spiritual shepherd, read.