They don’t care how many soldiers and families will suffer: Father Hovhannes on the dissolution of the Armed Forces’ spiritual leadership

By order of Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, the Spiritual Leadership of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia – an institution that has provided spiritual service for more than two decades – has been dissolved.

The Spiritual Leadership has fulfilled a vital mission within the Armed Forces, with chaplains providing not only spiritual guidance but also moral and psychological support to servicemen.

Spiritual leadership fulfills a crucial mission in the Armed Forces; the chaplains provide not only spiritual but also moral and psychological service.

“The chaplains were the heart of the army”… these words have always been heard when talking about the army-church connection. However, against the backdrop of the authorities’ campaign against the Church, attempts are now being made to sever this connection as well. Father Hovhannes Torgomyan, spiritual director at the “Izmirlyan” Medical Center and a former military chaplain, notes that only time will reveal how much the chaplains contributed to the army.

“When an incident happened, they would accuse us of not serving properly, of not working, saying that was why the incident occurred. But no one has a report on how many incidents were prevented solely by the silent presence of a clergyman or by his words,” Father Hovhannes Torgomyan said in an interview with Aysor.am.

“We would speak to groups of 80 people without knowing what was in their hearts or minds. Very often, even when someone had decided to do something wrong, after our conversations they changed their minds and did not take that step. But none of this is recorded anywhere – only above,” he added.

Father Hovhannes emphasized that the decision to dissolve the Spiritual Leadership of the Armed Forces pursues a single objective: to harm the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.

“They don’t care how many soldiers will suffer as a result of this step, how many families will be affected – they don’t care at all. They have set a goal and intend to carry it through to the end, regardless of who suffers along the way,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the authorities will not succeed in destroying the Church, stressing that it is unshakable.

“The foundation of the Church is Christ. Death itself could not defeat Christ – who are they? We grieve that you are living through these days, but the imperative of the moment is this: we are in a spiritual war,” Father Hovhannes Torgomyan concluded.