I do not personally know the Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, the head of Shirak Diocese, but his service is well-known, and probably, I will not be mistaken if I say that he is truly one of our most respected priests.
At this point, however, he refuses to give interviews, has ceased his participation in a religious program. Perhaps, he is upset by media and Facebook users. The reason for this is probably that the media, in his view, has incorrectly covered the burial of the dead soldier, and the Facebook users have interpreted it unilaterally and wickedly. Let me remind that Akhuryan resident Grigor Eghoyan was killed by a shot fired by the opponent in Artsakh on February 22, 2018, and a question arose about his burial in church because, according to some allegations, he was not baptized. I have already written about the essence of the case, now I am writing about the hurt feelings.
I will never reserve the right to myself to give advice to any clergyman, especially to Archbishop Mikayel. I will simply share my “journalism service” experience. It often happens that during interviews or press conferences politicians scold journalists for no reason, accusing them of something. The first human reaction is very natural: to give up and leave, and then scribe some “sweet” lines addressed to the unruly figure. This is what I was doing 20-25 years ago. But now I tell myself, “stop”, why do I follow my hurt feelings? My job is to convey information, and whatever this figure says is the raw material for my work. Whether how much the owner of this raw material loves or hates me, it does not matter at all. I, despite all this, do my job. The journalist should therefore be more forgiving and generous than the politician, whose job is to scold oppositionists, and sometimes journalists receive a share of that scolding too, when a person shakes his hands too actively, the people who are next to him can accidently receive a blow.
The mission of the clergy may be much higher than the journalist’s, and perhaps the similarities are not so many either: I just wanted to tell how I am trying to overcome my hurt feelings. It is another matter that it does not always work out.
What I mean is that all the words, whether sweet or offensive, all fair or unfair accusations will be forgotten. Life is too short to waste on such petty things.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
