Source: www.forum18.org
Date: February 6, 2026
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=3028
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Since at least May 2025, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has led a
campaign to oust the head of Armenia's largest religious community,
Catholicos Karekin of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Pashinyan has also
tried to subjugate the Armenian Church to the state, despite the
Constitutional separation of the state from religious communities. State
agencies have pressured clergy to cut ties with the Catholicos and targeted
bishops and priests who have remained loyal to him.
On 29 January 2026, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case
under Article 507, Part 2 ("Failing to execute a judicial act or
obstructing its execution" by someone in an official position) because the
Church leadership had failed to reinstate Gevorg Saroyan as Bishop of its
Masyatsotn Diocese. The Church had dismissed and then defrocked Saroyan for
backing Prime Minister Pashinyan's calls for a change of leadership in the
Church. Saroyan then brought a civil action in court to annul the Church's
dismissal decision (see below).
On 31 January, the Investigative Committee issued summonses to six bishops
who are members of the Supreme Spiritual Council and one priest requiring
them to appear before the Investigative Committee as defendants in the
criminal case. It then banned them from leaving the country while the
investigation was underway (see below).
The Investigative Committee did not respond to Forum 18's questions as to:
- why it had launched the criminal investigation into the Church's actions,
given the constitutionally-guaranteed separation of the state and religious
communities, and the recognition of religious communities' autonomy;
- and what reassurance it could give that criminal investigations of church
leaders who oppose Prime Minister Pashinyan's interference in the Church
are motivated solely by objective, legal criteria and not by political
factors or revenge (see below).
The exit bans on the six bishops – while four other bishops have already
been arrested on various charges – appear to have been designed to
prevent them attending a meeting of the Church's bishops from around the
world, planned for 16-19 February in Austria (see below).
"This constitutes yet another clear indication of the campaign launched
against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and of the repressive actions
being carried out against the clergy," Echmiadzin complained (see below).
Other priests who have been defrocked for supporting Pashinyan's calls for
the Catholicos to be removed are challenging their defrocking through the
courts (see below).
In several locations, police have protected priests defrocked by Catholicos
Karekin for supporting Prime Minister Pashinyan's campaign. Officers have
prevented new clergy named by diocesan leaders from entering churches and
allowed the defrocked priests to continue using the churches. Officials
have pressured priests not to commemorate the Catholicos in the liturgy
(see below).
Urged by two ruling party deputies, Parliament in October 2025 removed the
status of "public broadcaster" from the Shoghakat television channel.
Shoghakat, founded by the Church and co-financed by the state, produced
religious and cultural programmes and avoided political issues. In December
2025 the government liquidated the company running the channel and
broadcasts halted at the end of the year (see below).
On 29 January 2026, Defence Minister Suren Papikyan signed an Order ending
the Armenian Church's Chaplaincy Service within the armed forces. From now
on, only chaplains subject to the military rather than to the Church will
be approved (see below).
The Defence Ministry has not responded to Forum 18's questions as to why
Defence Minister Papikyan decided to abolish the Chaplaincy Service for
priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and whether the Minister's
decision was connected with the Prime Minister's campaign against
Catholicos Karekin and other church leaders (see below).
Article 41 of the Constitution states that "Religious organisations shall
have equal rights and shall enjoy autonomy". Article 17 of the Religion Law
includes the provision: "In the Republic of Armenia, Church and State are
separate." It adds that as part of this separation, the state "Shall not
interfere in the activities and internal affairs of church and Religious
Organisations as long as they operate in accordance with the law" (see
below).
Human rights defenders have condemned Prime Minister Pashinyan's campaign
against the Armenian Church leadership. "Today, we are witnessing
violations of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the principle of
the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedoms, and the
independence of the judiciary, as well as a gross breach of the autonomy of
the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (the Church), a right protected by the
Constitution and international conventions," 12 non-governmental
organisations and 16 individuals warned in a December 2025 statement (see
below).
"International human rights law recognises that many religious
organisations, including the Armenian church, long predate modern states
and that respect for their autonomy - including the freedom to determine
their internal structures, leadership, and practices - is a central
component of freedom of religion or belief," Isabella Sargsyan, a freedom
of religion or belief advocate and one of the signatories of the December
2025 statement, noted in January 2026 (see below).
Pashinyan's spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan did not respond to Forum 18's
question why the Prime Minister had interfered in the internal affairs of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, given the Constitutional recognition that
religious organisations enjoy autonomy. Karen Andreasyan, a former Justice
Minister and a former Human Rights Ombudsperson, who works in the Prime
Minister's Office as Representative on international legal issues, did not
answer his phone (see below).
Political differences between Armenian Church and government
The Armenian Apostolic Church is headed by Catholicos Karekin from the Holy
See at the monastery of Echmiadzin near the capital Yerevan. Tensions have
been mounting in recent years between the Church and the government, which
has been headed since 2018 by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The Church had criticised Pashinyan's handling of the 2020 Karabakh war
with neighbouring Azerbaijan and its aftermath. Catholicos Karekin called
on the Prime Minister to resign and for a government of national accord to
be formed.
From May 2024, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan led a protest movement calling
for Pashinyan's resignation. Catholicos Karekin relieved Archbishop
Galstanyan of his diocesan duties while he campaigned against the Prime
Minister, but did not defrock him. The Archbishop was arrested in June 2025
and is awaiting trial on charges of plotting a coup.
"Religious organisations shall have equal rights and shall enjoy autonomy"
Armenia's 2015 Constitution and the 1991 Religion Law (most recently
amended in 2011) govern relations between the state and religious
communities.
Article 41 of the Constitution states that "Religious organisations shall
have equal rights and shall enjoy autonomy. The procedure of creation and
operation of religious organisations shall be stipulated by law."
Article 17 of the Religion Law includes the provision: "In the Republic of
Armenia, Church and State are separate." It adds that as part of this
separation, the state "Shall not interfere in the activities and internal
affairs of church and Religious Organisations as long as they operate in
accordance with the law, no state agency or person acting on behalf of such
agency shall operate within a Religious Organisation."
Article 18 of the Religion Law declares that "The State shall finance
neither the activity of Religious Organisations nor of atheistic
propaganda. At the same time, the state guarantees the right of the members
or employees of Religious Organisations to take part in the civil and
political life on an equal basis with other citizens."
One religious community, the Armenian Apostolic Church, has a special law:
the 2007 Law Regarding the Relationship Between the Republic of Armenia and
the Holy Apostolic Armenian Church.
Article 2 of this Law includes the provision: "The Republic of Armenia
recognises the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church as autocephalous
(self-governing) within its hierarchal scope."
Armenia's international human rights obligations also require it to respect
religious organisations' autonomy. The OSCE / Council of Europe Venice
Commission Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief
Communities
(https://www.osce.org/sites/default/files/f/documents/9/9/139046.pdf)
declare that "states should observe their obligations by ensuring that
national law leaves it to the religious or belief community itself to
decide on its leadership, its internal rules, the substantive content of
its beliefs, the structure of the community and methods of appointment of
the clergy and its name and other symbols".
"Deep concern" over "alarming developments"
Human rights defenders have condemned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's
campaign against the leadership of the Armenian Church.
A 10 December 2025 statement, signed by 12 non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and 16 individuals, expressed "deep concern regarding the alarming
developments that have recently taken place in Armenia".
"Today, we are witnessing violations of the Constitution of the Republic of
Armenia, the principle of the rule of law, fundamental human rights and
freedoms, and the independence of the judiciary, as well as a gross breach
of the autonomy of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (the Church), a right
protected by the Constitution and international conventions," the statement
declared (https://prwb.am/en/2025/12/10/haytararuthyun-3/).
State interference in the autonomy of the Armenian Church violates
Armenia's Constitution, the Religion Law, "international norms on freedom
of religion or belief, and the case-law of the European Court of Human
Rights", the statement noted.
"The authorities' unlawful and unacceptable attempts to influence the
formation of ecclesiastical governance bodies and internal decision-making
processes are deeply concerning," the statement continued. "Equally
unacceptable are attempts to arbitrarily edit or alter the Church's
centuries-old traditions, rites, sacraments, canonical order, and other
domains of ecclesial life."
Isabella Sargsyan, a freedom of religion or belief advocate and one of the
signatories of the December 2025 statement, observes that "the question of
the separation between the Armenian church and the Armenian state - or of
defining a clear 'wall of separation' between them - has never been
seriously addressed".
"International human rights law recognises that many religious
organisations, including the Armenian church, long predate modern states
and that respect for their autonomy - including the freedom to determine
their internal structures, leadership, and practices - is a central
component of freedom of religion or belief," Sargsyan noted for the
Yerevan-based Regional Center for Democracy and Security
(https://www.rcds.am/en/statechurch-relations-through-the-lens-of-domestic-and-international-human-rights-law.html)
on 20 January 2026.
Sargsyan highlighted further concerns in a 29 January article for the Talk
About: Law and Religion Blog
(https://talkabout.iclrs.org/2026/01/29/armenias-state-church-relations-not-much-room-for-optimism/)
of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. She pointed out
that "the government's interference in the religious affairs of the Church
and its encroachment on the Church's autonomy constitute clear violations
of both the Constitution of Armenia and international law".
Sargsyan noted the Prime Minister's concerns about the conduct of some
Church leaders. "While concerns over the moral conduct of clergy may
resonate within the religious community, such matters, when they do not
constitute unlawful .. behaviour, fall squarely within the Church's
internal jurisdiction," she wrote.
"The behaviour and observance of celibacy by clergy members are governed by
canonical law, and any alleged violations should be examined through the
Church's established procedures rather than through political or state
intervention," Sargsyan added.
Referring to the arrests of and accusations against some bishops, Sargsyan
noted that the government "has not produced concrete evidence demonstrating
that the Catholicos or other members of the clergy have engaged in
activities that would constitute offences under the Republic of Armenia's
criminal code".
Forum 18 asked Pashinyan's spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan on the
afternoon of 5 February why the Prime Minister had interfered in the
internal affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church, given the Constitutional
recognition that religious organisations enjoy autonomy. Forum 18 had
received no response by the afternoon of the working day in Yerevan of 6
February and she did not answer the phone.
Karen Andreasyan, a former Justice Minister and a former Human Rights
Ombudsperson, who works in the Prime Minister's Office as Representative on
international legal issues, did not answer his phone each time Forum 18
called on 5 and 6 February.
Prime Minister calls for Armenian Church leadership change
On 29 May 2025, at a government session unrelated to the Church, Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan sharply criticised Armenian Apostolic Church
leaders. After some bishops condemned his remarks, Pashinyan repeated his
criticisms the following day. He called on clergy who violated their vows
of celibacy to be defrocked.
On 2 June 2025, Pashinyan called on Catholicos Karekin to resign. He
claimed the Catholicos had violated his vow of celibacy by fathering a
child. "I raise the issue as a follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church
because I see a spiritual security issue, and also as the Prime Minister of
Armenia because I see a state security issue."
In another post, Pashinyan declared that the Armenian government must have
a "decisive say" in the choice of the next Catholicos. He called for future
candidates for Catholicos to undergo background checks.
The Church's Supreme Spiritual Council, chaired by Catholicos Karekin,
rejected Pashinyan's comments at a 2 June 2025 meeting at Echmiadzin. "The
Prime Minister of Armenia has launched yet another campaign against the
Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, using language unbecoming of a statesman -
replete with insults and accusations - and positioning himself above the
law," its statement read
(https://www.armenianchurch.org/en/news/en-announcement-2-06-2025/11843).
"Matters of the Church are governed by ecclesiastical canons and
regulations and lie beyond the jurisdiction of state and political
authorities," the statement insisted.
On Sunday 9 June 2025, Pashinyan again called for Catholicos Karekin to
resign. "As a faithful member of the Armenian Apostolic Church, I believe
we must elect a new Catholicos," he said. "Just as we returned the
government to the people, we must now return the Church to the people."
The following day, Pashinyan called on followers of the Armenian Apostolic
Church to support efforts to reform the Church's leadership. In a public
message, he urged the formation of a Coordinating Group to organise
elections for a new Catholicos and "liberate" the Mother See of Holy
Echmiadzin.
"At this stage, we need to establish a Coordinating Group to manage the
organisational aspects of this agenda. Members of the Coordinating Group
should be followers of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church," Pashinyan
declared. "I will personally take responsibility for selecting the first 10
members of the Coordinating Group, based on conversations and assessments
regarding the criteria listed above. Later on, the Group itself will
determine the procedures for expansion, its structure, and any other
necessary matters."
Arrests of bishops
Police and National Security Service (NSS) officers raided the Echmiadzin
monastery on the morning of 27 June 2025, the day after Prime Minister
Pashinyan threatened to forcibly oust Karekin as head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church. Officers tried to arrest Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian,
head of the Shirak Diocese and a vocal critic of the Prime Minister. But
they failed to do so after meeting fierce resistance from hundreds of angry
priests and laypeople.
Archbishop Ajapahian surrendered to investigators several hours after the
raid. They charged him with calling for a violent overthrow of the
government. A court jailed him for two years on 3 October 2025.
The case was based on a June 2025 interview in which Archbishop Ajapahian
lamented the Armenian military's failure to topple Pashinyan and thus
"save" Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh following the 2020 war with
neighbouring Azerbaijan.
The authorities arrested three other senior clergymen loyal to the
Catholicos and critical of Pashinyan in 2025. These included Archbishop
Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Catholicosate. They face various
criminal charges which they reject as politically motivated. Karekin's
supporters fear that he too may eventually be arrested.
The December 2025 NGO statement called on the Investigative Committee and
the Prosecutor's Office "to ensure independent and effective
investigations, guided solely by the requirements of the Constitution and
the law; and to safeguard the rights of all individuals involved in
proceedings, including respect for the presumption of innocence".
Forum 18 asked the Investigative Committee before the start of the working
day in Yerevan of 5 February what reassurance it could give that criminal
investigations of church leaders who oppose Prime Minister Pashinyan's
interference in the Church are motivated solely by objective, legal
criteria and not by political factors or revenge. Forum 18 had received no
response by the afternoon of the working day in Yerevan of 6 February.
Church divisions
Of the more than 30 archbishops and bishops in Armenia and in the worldwide
Armenian diaspora, ten openly backed Prime Minister Pashinyan's demands for
Catholicos Karekin's resignation in November 2025.
At a meeting with at least seven of these bishops at his residence on 5
January 2026, Pashinyan outlined his plans to reform the Church. He read
out a statement – which he signed in his capacity of Prime Minister -
specifying the removal of the current Catholicos and the formation of a
Coordinating Council comprised of himself and the ten bishops that support
him. The statement also condemned the "uncanonical practice of involving
the Church in politics and using it to serve various agendas and
interests".
On 5 January 2026, the Echmiadzin Catholicosate issued a statement
(https://www.armenianchurch.org/en/news/e05012026/12107) condemning
Pashinyan and the bishops who backed him. "The actions undertaken by the
Head of the Government of Armenia, under the pretext of bringing the
internal life of the Church into accordance with the canons and reforming
it, constitute a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia
and infringe upon the rights of the Church enshrined both in international
law and in the legislation of Armenia."
State and church funded TV channel closed down
The Armenian Church founded Shoghakat television channel in 1995. It became
a public broadcaster in 2002, jointly financed by the Church and the state.
This status meant the channel was widely available on digital TV packages.
Two parliamentary deputies from Prime Minister Pashinyan's Civil Contract
party, Taguhi Ghazaryan and Sisak Gabrielyan, presented an amendment to
parliament to the 2020 Audiovisual Media Law to remove any reference to a
channel with "educational-cultural programmes" as a "public broadcaster".
This effectively abolished the status of the Church's television channel
Shoghakat as a "public broadcaster".
"It is apparent that the real reason behind this amendment is the
government's decision to exclude Shoghakat TV Company from the list of
public broadcasters and the bill submitted to Parliament, with superficial
justifications, is clearly designed to serve this purpose," the Union of
Journalists of Armenia complained on 21 October 2025
(https://uaj.am/en/6567.html).
The Shoghakat channel "has maintained political neutrality and focused
exclusively on spiritual, cultural, and educational content, even amidst
the most brazen attacks on the Church", the Union pointed out.
"By removing Shoghakat TV from the list of public broadcasters," the Union
added, "the government is not only delivering yet another blow to the
Church, but is also attempting to limit the reach of a unique TV station
dedicated to the preservation and professional presentation of spiritual
and national values."
Parliament approved the amendment in the first reading on 22 October 2025
and in the second and final reading two days later. President Vahagn
Khachaturyan signed the amendment into law on 28 October 2025.
On 25 December 2025, the government issued a decision to halt the
broadcasts of Shoghakat's programmes and liquidate the company running the
TV station.
The Shoghakat channel ceased to be distributed at the end of 2025, its
director Manya Ghazaryan told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 5 February 2026.
National Security Service joins campaign against Church
Prime Minister Pashinyan visited churches and attended Sunday masses led by
priests who agreed to avoid uttering Catholicos Karekin's name during those
services in breach of a centuries-old canonical rule. Pashinyan admitted in
early December 2025 ordering the National Security Service (NSS) to try to
censor church liturgies he attended by preventing priests from
commemorating the Catholicos.
The NSS appears to have provided intelligence briefings to Pashinyan
containing sensitive details of the private lives of members of the clergy.
The NSS – the successor to the Armenian branch of the KGB - publicly
accused Catholicos Karekin's younger brother, Archbishop Yezras (who leads
the Church's Moscow diocese), of having been an agent of the Soviet KGB
between 1986 and 1989. The NSS also alleged he continues to act as a
foreign agent.
"Archbishop Yezras Nersisyan currently maintains contacts with
representatives of foreign special services, which may pose a threat to the
security and interests of the Republic of Armenia," the NSS told the
pro-government website Civic.am (https://civic.am/news/107580) on 19
December 2025. "Based on the above, the National Security Service, within
the framework of the powers vested in it by law, is taking necessary
measures to eliminate the aforementioned threats."
The news website published what it claimed had been Yezras' KGB agent
record card. Although the format of the card matches KGB record cards from
the 1980s, the image the NSS handed to the website is in Armenian. KGB
documentation of its agents was always in Russian.
On 29 December 2025 (re-sent on 4 February 2026), Forum 18 asked the NSS
for a copy of the original Russian version of any KGB record card for
Yezras. Forum 18 had received no response by the afternoon of the working
day in Yerevan of 6 February.
The NSS provided no proof of Yezras' involvement in current activity as an
agent of a foreign power.
The December 2025 NGO statement called on the Police and NSS "to carry out
their functions independently and strictly in accordance with the demands
of the Constitution and the law".
Defence Ministry abolishes Church's army chaplaincy
In 1997, the Armenian Church and the state agreed a jointly funded military
chaplaincy, with priests provided by the Church. As of January 2026, 42
priests and deacons were serving at military units as chaplains. Of these,
34 had been appointed by Echmiadzin, while the remaining 8 were deacons who
were conducting military service.
As tension mounted between the government and the Armenian Church, some
military chaplains complained that Defence Ministry officials had pressured
them to renounce loyalty to Catholicos Karekin.
On 29 January 2026, Defence Minister Suren Papikyan signed an Order (seen
by Forum 18) cancelling the July 2000 Order on the Chaplaincy Service,
issued by the then Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan. Papikyan instructed
that from 1 February 2026, the service of the head of the Chaplaincy
Service and priests "appointed by the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church" was
terminated.
Papikyan ordered that in future, chaplaincy services would be offered by
those who have completed religious education by the Armenian Church and who
had been called up for military service. These priests would be military
officers directly responsible to the army rather than to the Church.
Military chaplain Fr Psak Mkrtchyan noted on Facebook on 30 January that he
had received "calls and messages from many of you" asking why liturgies
would no longer be celebrated at St Gregory of Narek Church of Kanaz
Military Hospital in Yerevan. "I would like to clarify. By order of the
Defence Minister, the Spiritual Leadership of the Armed Forces, which has
provided its spiritual service for 20 and more years, has been dissolved.
We are relieved of our duties as clergy."
Forum 18 asked the Defence Ministry on 5 February why Defence Minister
Papikyan decided to abolish the Chaplains Department for priests of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, and whether the minister's decision was
connected with the Prime Minister's campaign against Catholicos Karekin and
other church leaders. The Defence Ministry acknowledged receipt of the
questions. Forum 18 had received no response to its questions by the
afternoon of the working day in Yerevan of 6 February.
Police protect defrocked priests
In several locations, police have protected priests defrocked by Catholicos
Karekin for supporting Prime Minister Pashinyan's campaign. Officers have
allowed the defrocked priests to continue using the churches and prevented
new clergy named by diocesan leaders from entering.
On 6 January, police (and the town's mayor) protected a defrocked priest
who served the Christmas liturgy in Holy Mother of God church in the
central town of Talin. Officers prevented a new priest from entering to
hold a service.
Police do not take action against those who disrupt services at Echmiadzin
or other churches whose clergy remain loyal to Catholicos Karekin. Police
looked on at Echmiadzin on 18 December 2025 when aggressive men tried to
break into the cathedral as Karekin was leading a service.
Investigative Committee investigates bishop's defrocking
On 10 January 2026, the Church dismissed Bishop Gevorg Saroyan as head of
its Masyatsotn Diocese. He had backed Prime Minister Pashinyan's calls for
a change of leadership in the Armenian Church. Police were seen outside the
diocesan offices in Masis, apparently to prevent the Church leadership's
enforcement of the dismissal.
Saroyan led the liturgy at St. Thaddeus Church in Masis on Sunday 11
January. Pashinyan also attended, along with many officials. Many employees
of Vedi District local administration of Ararat Province - run by a senior
member of Pashinyan's Civil Contract party – appear to have been
pressured to attend. One middle-aged man – who had been undergoing
hospital treatment - told reporters that he and fellow workers of the local
utilities department were "required" to come to the Masis church on the
occasion, local media reported.
With Pashinyan's encouragement, Saroyan challenged the dismissal in court.
The Court of General Jurisdiction of Civil Cases of Armavir Region ruled on
16 January that he must be reinstated pending its verdict on the lawsuit.
It also said the Church must not try to stop him from performing his duties
in any way, including "the management of the financial resources of the
Masyatsotn Diocese and the execution of financial transactions, until the
adoption of a final judicial act within the case".
The Investigative Committee notes that the decision was served on the
Chancellery at Echmiadzin on 19 January.
Echmiadzin rejected the court decision, insisting that the Church takes
such decisions based on its own canons.
On 27 January, the Church's Supreme Spiritual Council defrocked Bishop
Gevorg.
Some of the 24 parish priests serving in the Masyatsotn Diocese claimed
that local government officials and other Pashinyan loyalists in two
provincial communities pressured them to pledge allegiance to the sacked
primate, Radio Free Europe's Armenian Service noted on 28 January
(https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33662420.html).
Saroyan's defrocking led the Investigative Committee's General Department
for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases to launch a criminal
investigation on 29 January into non-compliance with a court decision,
according to an announcement that day on the Investigative Committee
website.
Criminal Code Article 507, Part 2 ("Failing to execute a judicial act or
obstructing its execution" by someone in an official position) carries a
maximum punishment of two years in prison.
The Investigative Committee did not formally charge Catholicos Karekin or
anyone else, saying instead that "procedural and evidentiary actions are
being carried out" as part of the investigation.
"The court has no right to order anything to the Mother See or make other
decisions regarding it," Marine Farmanian, a lawyer critical of the
government, told RFE's Armenian Service on 29 January
(https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33664188.html). "A secular court can't deal
with ecclesiastical rules."
Forum 18 asked the Investigative Committee before the start of the working
day in Yerevan of 5 February why it had launched the criminal investigation
into the Church's actions, given the constitutionally-guaranteed separation
of the state and religious communities, and the recognition of religious
communities' autonomy. Forum 18 had received no response by the afternoon
of the working day in Yerevan of 6 February.
In contrast, the Investigative Committee does not appear to have launched
an investigation into Edvard Stepanyan, a resident of Garni (and local
administration employee) who attended a liturgy on 28 December 2025 led by
a defrocked priest and attended by Pashinyan. Asked what he thought would
force Karekin to bow to government pressure and resign, Stepanyan
responded: "They should hit him on the head with a stone and kill him."
The Office of the Prosecutor-General told RFE's Armenian Service
(https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33635775.html) the following day that it had
launched a preliminary inquiry into the death call.
Forum 18 also asked the Investigative Committee if it has launched a
criminal investigation into Stepanyan's comments and if not why not. Forum
18 had received no response by the afternoon of the working day in Yerevan
of 6 February.
Other defrocked priests have brought civil suits to court to have the
Church decisions annulled. Aramayis Takhmazyan (Fr Tade Takhmazyan) and
Stepan Asatryan (Fr Aram Asatryan) filed suits with the General
Jurisdiction Court of Armavir Region, hetq investigative news website noted
on 6 February (https://hetq.am//hy/article/179597).
Bishops' exit ban obstructs Armenian Church conference
Catholicos Karekin planned to hold a bishops' conference at Echmiadzin from
10-12 December 2025 to discuss the crisis. However, he had to postpone the
meeting after further arrests of bishops.
Karekin then set the bishops' conference for 16-19 February in the Austrian
city of Sankt Pölten.
In connection with the Investigative Committee's investigation into the
Church's defrocking of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan (see above), the Investigative
Committee issued summonses on 31 January to six bishops who are members of
the Supreme Spiritual Council and a priest, requiring them to appear before
the Investigative Committee as defendants. The seven were banned from
leaving Armenia.
"This constitutes yet another clear indication of the campaign launched
against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and of the repressive actions
being carried out against the clergy," Echmiadzin noted in a 31 January
statement (https://www.armenianchurch.org/en/news/statement01-02-26/12125).
"Within the framework of the criminal prosecution, the departure from the
country of members of the Supreme Spiritual Council holding episcopal rank
has been blocked," the statement added. It described this as a "gross
violation of fundamental human rights". It called on the state to respect
the Church's autonomy. (END)
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