According to Ruben Babayan, the money of the Church has always been under the name of the Patriarchs, but the time has come to change the order
After the scandalous rumors of 1.1 million dollar on the secret bank about at the HSBC bank under the name of the Catholicos Karekin II, the talks are gradually escalating. Some people believe that His Holiness should give up the role, which he assumes because thus, he would somehow clear up his name, in addition, in doing so, he would show his courage, because as said by the Director of the Yerevan State Puppet Theatre Ruben Babayan in the conversation with “Aravot”, “Only strong people can give up the glory, the office and the position.”
Many people express opinions regarding the situation created, including the people of culture. Ruben Babayan thinks that the whole story is sad and talking about it does not make him delight, anyway, he had stopped on the idea that when you choose the role of being a public man, then you should be ready that all your life will proceed under a magnifying glass, this is the law of the life. “In my opinion, your own reputation should be above everything. This is a matter of culture of how we bring up our children, in what atmosphere, and to what extent we are concerned about our own reputation, not in terms of hiding the role somehow, but understanding that we need to be possibly spotless. I tend to believe that the money of the Church have always been registered under the name of the Catholicos, but perhaps, the time has come to change this order. Indeed, the Catholicos as a spiritual father should be spotless. The way should be two-sided and the society should be more restrained in terms of digging out accusations, and the other side that has assumed the commitment to bear the spiritual cross should be meticulous to the last cell about his own reputation,” said our interlocutor with confidence.
Ruben Babayan said that a big blast of aggression is going to happen in the society, which, according to him, generates from people’s overall depressive situation. “Absolutely condemning all acts of violence, I feel that there is an aggression in the air, a psychology of violence, and this should be eliminated, otherwise, we are all searching for enemies among us.”
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To the observation that there is an opinion that His Holiness should give up his position assumed, Ruben Babayan said as follows, “I think that the resignation as an action and a manifestation of civilization, is a matter of personal resolving. Here, no advice is necessary. If you have assumed certain commitments, then you have assume the moral right to implement them, and if you understand that you’re deprived of this moral right unjustly, then this is the case when the issue of resignation comes, but this is something that everyone should solve it at its own. Christ used to say, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” We are not innocent either, and resignation has been made many times by different people. But when the matter of what you are called and whether you can bear all of is put on the scale, here it comes the question to think whether you are capable or not, and if not, then it’s not because your moral strength is not sufficient, but the circumstances are arranged so that it is difficult to restore the faith. I think that resignation is a practice of strong and moral people.”
To the question of whether His Holiness would clear up his reputation by resigning his post, Ruben Babayan replied, “I think, yes. I cannot give advice to people, but when the job is more important and when the work suffers because of you, then you should have the courage to make a decision. Step of resignation is also a way of restoring the moral reputation. We can lose a lot of things in life, but when you lose the reputation, we are destroyed. No material loss can never be compared with a loss of reputation. It is a pity…”
Eva HAKOBYAN
