The morning event of the “Prayer Breakfast 2026” conference took place in Yerevan, attended by more than 100 high-ranking officials, statesmen and representatives of the diplomatic, business and spiritual spheres from Armenia and abroad.
That significant event was organized by the “Spiritual Club of Secular People” non-governmental organization. The aim of the event is to promote dialogue and cooperation, based on Armenia’s historic Christian identity, peace, leadership founded on moral principles, and religious freedom.
The long-term goal of the “Prayer Breakfast” is also to shape a vision and to view Armenia as a leading country oriented toward religious freedom and prosperity, with a society founded on faith, partnership, innovation and peace.
Those present were welcomed and blessed with the Lord’s Prayer by Bishop Mesrob Sarkisian of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.
Before the speeches, those present were shown the video telling about the khachkar preserved from the Gethsemane Chapel and about Christianity in Armenia.
The keynote address of the event was reserved for RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In his remarks he noted that the ideology of Real Armenia is about Armenia, within its internationally recognized territory, being the Promised Land that God has given us.
“There are also spiritual justifications for this. The remains of Mesrop Mashtots are interred in the village of Oshakan in the enlarged Ashtarak community of the RA, while Khor Virap, which is the source of our Christian faith, is located in the territory of the enlarged Vedi community of the RA. The capital of our Christian faith, the center of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, our holy of holies, is located in the Etchmiadzin settlement of the enlarged Vagharshapat community of the RA. Today’s RA is the expression of our Christian essence, our Promised Land. We speak about the spiritual life of our country, but we must face several important facts,” Pashinyan said.
According to him, the first fact is that the Armenian people lived for about 70 years in the USSR, which was an atheist state and where the word “believer” had a negative connotation. In Pashinyan’s words, those who trusted in God were rejected by the state; believers in the USSR were marginalized and isolated, finding themselves on the margins of society.
“After independence this tendency has perhaps softened, but it has not changed completely. Even today there is a negative meaning in the word ‘believer,’ because there are believers and there are the other citizens. My conviction is that the citizen of the RA must believe in God, because our state is our Promised Land, our language is the pillar of our identity. Today there is an active spiritual life in our churches and in other places, but the problem is that spiritual life is church life, it is basically inside the church, yet it is very important that that spiritual life come out of the church and enter the street, homes, the market, local self-government bodies, the government, the legislative, executive and judicial authorities. A person will most likely be much more virtuous if he believes in God. A person will be less vulnerable to the dangers of corruption if he believes in God,” Pashinyan said.
He recalled that in Armenia today there is much talk about justice and the judiciary and stressed that just will be the judge who believes in God, and only in that case will he hand down just verdicts.
“This is important for me not only in a spiritual, but also in a state sense. When we speak about values, we must understand where those values stem from. Democracy existed before Christianity, but the modern type of democracy stems from Christ. When political figures go from city to city, from village to village, sharing their ideas with people, they, in essence, imitate the activity of Jesus Christ. How sincere the figure is in his imitation is already a question of his relations with God, his relations with the people. We constantly search for God, whereas the answer to that question is in the lines of the Holy Scripture. God is in man. After seeing the large and full squares I have come to the conclusion that God, yes, is in every person, but is also in the people, because the people is the magnitude that can encompass God,” Pashinyan said.
He stressed that it is very important that the people come into contact with that fact and perceive his country as God’s station. In Pashinyan’s observation, that is the foundation on which a value-based state and society can be created.
“Much is said about civilization, which in the form of modern politics comes into contact with people, but we all need solidarity. Views on different regulations are sometimes extremely different. The only way and place where there can be solidarity, including among political figures, is conversation about God and faith, and not only around doctrinal issues. The ‘Prayer Breakfast’ format is important in that every person is free to speak about God and his relations, his spiritual feelings, his experience. That is why this is the place where there can be solidarity,” the prime minister said.
He recalled that 3 October is also the day of national minorities in the Republic of Armenia and stressed that the “Prayer Breakfast” format gives people the opportunity to come and pray together, regardless of what the doctrinal direction of their faith is.
“The doctrinal disputes of national minorities remain outside this format, which is very important for Armenia. Full solidarity can only be around spiritual feelings. We must continue this path as a path of solidarity, faith, unity and optimism, because to believe in God means to believe in one’s own people and state, to believe in humanity, to believe in oneself,” Pashinyan said.
At the end of the speech the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia read the 5th psalm, “Prayer for safety. Psalm concerning the choirmaster and the inheritors”.
