"Catholicos-Online": The Assembly of Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church takes place in Austria

The Assembly of Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), convened by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, began its work in Austria. The event, taking place amid growing confrontation between the Church and the Armenian authorities, as well as an acute intra-church crisis, was marked by the online participation of the Catholicos himself due to a ban on his departure.

The gathering kicked off on February 17, 2026 in the Austrian city of St. Pölten, Sputnik Armenia reports. It is attended by 25 AAC archbishops and bishops, including representatives of the Armenian patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople. Originally planned as a Council, the meeting changed its status to a «bishops’ meeting» due to the impossibility of the personal presence of Catholicos Karekin II and a number of other bishops, who were also banned from traveling.

The participants began with the «Arevagal» service, a special morning service performed during Lent in the Armenian Apostolic Church. After spiritual reflection and prayerful solitude, the official part of the gathering began, opening with the Lord’s Prayer. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II addressed the gathering in an online format. After the discussion and approval of the agenda, a presidium was elected to continue the proceedings of the meeting, where the pressing issues of concern to the Church will be discussed.

The work of the meeting is taking place against the backdrop of the escalating confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church. The conflict intensified after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s harsh remarks against the clergy and his initiative to change the procedure for electing the Catholicos, which implies a key role of the state.

Against this background, the heads of three dioceses — Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan, Mikael Ajapakhyan and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, as well as the head of the Chancellery of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin Arshak Khachatryan — were arrested earlier on various charges. Businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who stood up for the Church, was also arrested.

The escalation of the conflict got a new impetus on November 27, 2025, when a statement of a group of AAC hierarchs appeared in pro-government public media. They accused Catholicos Karekin II of trying to cover up the «sacrilegious act» of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, referring to the intimate videos that appeared online (which Lord Khachatryan himself denies). The hierarchs said that in this way the Patriarch «patronizes blasphemy».

On the same day, the authors of the statement met with Prime Minister Pashinian. Already on November 29, 2025, the 10 signatories issued a new statement calling on the Catholicos to voluntarily abdicate and accusing him of arbitrary rule, political interference and other actions incompatible, according to them, with the mission of the head of the Church. This phase of the crisis ended with the signing on January 4, 2026 by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with 10 «rebellious» bishops of the so-called «roadmap for the improvement» of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Earlier, on February 14, the Armenian Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II on charges of obstructing the execution of a judicial act, which entailed a ban on his departure from the country.