Catholicos Karekin II relieved head of diocese amid worsening intra-church crisis in Armenia

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II dismissed Bishop Gevorg Saroyan from the post of Administrator of the Diocese of Masiatsotn of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This decision, according to a statement by the Chancery of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, was made against the backdrop of the ongoing aggravation of church-state relations, as well as intensifying intra-church conflicts, including calls for the resignation of the Catholicos himself.

According to Gorthodox.com, the grounds for Bishop Saroyan’s dismissal were abuse of office, omissions in the performance of his duties, and coercion and pressure on the clergy of the Diocese of Masiatsotn. Hieromonk Ruben Zargarian was appointed as the head of the Diocese by the decision of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

This incident is a new round in the long-standing 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 envisages a key role for the state. Earlier, the heads of three dioceses – Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapakhyan, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, and the head of the Chancellery of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin Arshak Khachatryan – were arrested on various charges. Businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who stood up for the Church, was also arrested.

The escalation received a new impetus on November 27, when a statement of a group of AAC hierarchs appeared in the pro-government publishers. They accused Catholicos Karekin II of trying to cover up Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan’s “sacrilegious deed”, referring to the intimate videos that appeared online. Vladyka Khachatryan himself denies his involvement. The authors of the statement claimed that by doing so the Patriarch “patronizes blasphemy”. The same day the signatories of the statement met with Prime Minister Pashinyan. Already on November 29, 10 of them issued a new statement calling on Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II to 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.

Recall, earlier we reported that hundreds of clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), both in Armenia and in the Diaspora, made public statements expressing their unconditional support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. This wave of support comes against the backdrop of recent developments concerning the Church. At the same time, a smaller proportion of clergy reportedly joined the “Church beautification agenda” promoted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.