Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports today revised its statement released yesterday regarding a project to erect a statue of Jesus Christ atop Mt. Hatis, in the country’s Kotayk province.

Minister Vahram Dumanyan today read a revised statement at a press briefing that omitted a passage in yesterday’s statement that the ministry only heard about construction work on the mountain via media reports.

When asked about the omission, Dumanyan argued that the ministry only knew about a plan to erect a statute of Jesus Christ but was unaware that the government gave its preliminary approval to the Mt. Hatis site.

This claim is suspect since the Armenian government, at a July 7 cabinet session, specified Mt. Hatis as the site for the project initiated by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan.

Dumanyan also said the Armenian Apostolic Church had not publicly opposed the project but merely announced it did not welcome it.