Rebel bishop of the Armenian Church has filed a lawsuit against Etchmiadzin

A new round of confrontation between the state and the Armenian Apostolic Church is heating up in Armenia. One of the so-called «rebel» bishops, Gevorg Saroyan, has filed a lawsuit against the Mother See of Echmiadzin. He is challenging the decision of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to remove him as head of the Diocese of Masiatsotn. This lawsuit is unprecedented for independent Armenia, given the constitutional separation of church and state. This is reported by Sputnik Armenia

Information about Gevorg Saroyan’s lawsuit against the supreme spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church was published on Datalex judicial and legal information website. The clergyman is seeking to appeal an intra-church order directly related to his removal from the leadership of the diocese. It is noted that Saroyan is among the ten hierarchs who signed the so-called «Church Renewal Roadmap» presented by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church has significantly intensified after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s harsh remarks against the clergy. The head of the government also came up with an initiative to change the procedure for electing the Catholicos, which implies strengthening the role of the state in this process. Against the backdrop of this escalation, the heads of three dioceses were arrested earlier on various charges: Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapakhyan, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, and the head of the Chancellery of the Mother See of Echmiadzin, Arshak Khachatryan. In addition, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who stood up for the Church, was arrested.

The escalation of the conflict received a new impetus on November 27 last year, when a statement signed by a group of AAC hierarchs appeared in the pro-government public channels. In it 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. Vladyka Khachatryan himself denies his involvement in the videos. The authors of the statement claimed that in this way the Patriarch «patronizes blasphemy». On the same day, the hierarchs met with Prime Minister Pashinian.

Already on November 29 of the same year, the ten signatories issued a new statement calling on the Catholicos to voluntarily abdicate. They accused him of arbitrary rule, political interference and other actions that they said were incompatible with the mission of the head of the Church. The final stage of this series of events was the signing of the so-called «roadmap for the improvement» of the Armenian Apostolic Church by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and ten rebellious bishops on January 4, 2026.

It should be noted that earlier we reported that the Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia rejected the defense complaint against the arrest of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Chancellery Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, leaving him in custody. His defense, clergy and opposition forces call the charges of «sale of narcotic substances» against the clergyman absurd and politically motivated.