Lawyer: Even Soviet constitutions upheld church-state separation

Secular authorities primarily clashed with churches during the early Middle Ages, with the key driver being the stripping of economic leverage rather than appeasing external forces. As a result, several protestant churches emerged with significant secular involvement, most notably in England, where the British monarch serves as the supreme head of the church, lawyer Gevorg Danielyan claims.

"The few conflicts between state and church in the modern era have followed authoritarian tactics, imposing laws to marginalize religious institutions, given that even Soviet constitutions upheld the separation of church and state,” he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

“In Protestantism, however, secular authority over the church, as well as direct clergy participation in state politics, is imperatively codified in these countries' legislation and ecclesiastical regulations. For instance, the 26 archbishops of the Church of England are ex officio members of the UK Parliament’s upper house, the House of Lords.

"These rules apply only to Protestantism and bear no relation to the autonomy of other Christian churches, let alone unilateral impositions,” the lawyer stated.