Pashinyan threatened to take temples away from Armenian Church amid escalating conflict

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced the possible seizure of churches from the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), marking a new round in the escalating confrontation between the government and the clergy. The announcement came amid continued arrests of high-ranking clerics and increased pressure on the Church.

Speaking in parliament, the head of the government threatened to return to state ownership the temples and monuments transferred to the AAC for free use. According to RIA Novosti, Pashinyan justified this by saying that in some church structures “there is no spiritual life, but intrigue.” “I think where there is no spiritual life but intrigues, we can return these monuments to society,” the prime minister said.

As an example of a place where “there is spiritual life,” Pashinyan cited the Hovhannavank Monastery, whose abbot was recently deprived of the dignity of priest Aram Asatryan. The prime minister promised to support him to “restore real spiritual life.” Earlier, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II deprived Asatryan of his dignity for numerous violations. It is noteworthy that it was on the basis of Asatryan’s statements that the pro-Western public organization initiated the persecution of other clergymen, including the arrested Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan.

Relations between the authorities and the AAC deteriorated sharply after Pashinian’s insulting publications against the church and his proposals to change the procedure for electing the Catholicos. The conflict is accompanied by a series of high-profile arrests. Thus, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the “Holy Struggle” protest movement, and Archbishop Mikayel Ajapakhyan, the head of the Shirak diocese, were taken into custody, accused of calling for the seizure of power. Famous philanthropist and church supporter Samvel Karapetyan was also arrested, which caused outrage in the Armenian Diaspora around the world.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a high-profile statement declaring Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II deprived of his dignity and accusing him of breaking his vow of celibacy and seizing the patriarchal throne. This statement, made in Parliament, testifies to the unprecedented aggravation of relations between the state authorities and the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which has lasted for several months and is accompanied by criminal cases against a number of high-ranking clergymen.