Tuesday, 28 December 2004
Today the Religious Affairs Council under RA Prime Minister has held a meeting in the Office of Government presided at by Prime Minister A. Margaryan. Mr. Razmik Markosyan, Adviser to the Prime Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Council, has reported on the work done in 2004. He noted that the Council went on performing its main duties and functions aimed at efficiency enhancement in State policies with regard to religious affairs, the streamlining of the activities of different religious organizations operating in the country, the establishment of an atmosphere conducive to tolerance and co-existence between the religious communities and ethnic minorities based in Armenia, as well as the regulation of the relationship between the State and the Church. In 2004, a separate regulatory unit was set up at the Office of Government by Prime Minister A. Margaryan's decision to streamline the array of religion- and ethnic minorities-related issues.
The meeting has discussed a broad spectrum of problems associated with the legal control over the activities of religious organizations, the general contents, the teachers and teaching methods of the subject of History of the Armenian Apostolic Church tought in the schools of the Republic, as well as the procedure set for the submission of expert opinion for purposes of religious organizations registration. With reference to RA law on the freedom of religion and religious organizations, it was noted that this law, which was adopted as early as in 1991, had come short of the requirements of the day and was in need of serious amendments. The members of the Council were instructed to have acquainted themselves with the draft of the new law on the freedom of religion and religious organizations in order to submit proposals pertaining to this draft and other related documents by the end of February, 2005.
