The supreme head of the church also urged Armenians to close the ranks to counter “Azerbaijan's expansionist ambitions and encroachments” as he celebrated a Christmas mass at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan.
“Let us eliminate artificially created gaps between us, let us live with love for each other so that the vineyards of our nation and homeland will be brightened with heavenly blessing,” he declared in his Christmas message read out during the liturgy boycotted by Armenia’s leadership.
Garegin said that those divisions, coupled with “complicated geopolitical events,” contributed to Azerbaijan’s September 2023 recapture of Karabakh that forced the region’s practically entire population to flee to Armenia.
“In such manner, Artsakh remained alone during the days of disasters. Armenians from Artsakh were forcibly displaced from their homeland and became homeless,” he said.
Garegin went on to praise the more than 120,000 Karabakh Armenian refugees for coping with their ordeal with “heroic and unbeatable spirit and dignity.”
NAGORNO-KARABAKH - Men examine a bomb crater near the Holy Savior Cathedral after shelling by Azerbaijan's forces in Shushi, October 29, 2020
“Artsakh will never become a past for us,” he said. “We will continue to cherish it in our hearts and souls, making every effort to protect the rights of Artsakh Armenians. Stay full of hope, God will provide you and give blessings for the hardships you have endured. You are not alone in your difficulties.”
The Catholicos similarly spoke of a “relentless pain of immense losses in our hearts” resulting from “the occupation and depopulation of Artsakh” in his New Year’s Eve speech which was controversially not aired by Armenian state television run by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s loyalists. By contrast, Pashinian made no direct mention of the loss of Karabakh in his address to the nation.
Pashinian as well as members of his government and political team were again conspicuously absent from the Christmas mass, underscoring their discord with the Armenian Apostolic Church. The tensions rose further in October when Garegin blamed Pashinian for Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 military offensive in Karabakh.
The church earlier repeatedly condemned Pashinian for recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. The premier accused the church of meddling in politics in May 2023, prompting a scathing response from Garegin’s office.