Ten high-ranking priests issued a statement expressing their expectation that Catholicos Karekin II, the head of Armenian Apostalic Church, would ‘voluntarily go on leave’ amidst the ongoing rift between the state and the Church. The statement came shortly after they met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The lengthy text criticising Karekin II’s leadership of the church was published on Saturday by ArmTimes, a website run by Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan.
The statement followed Pashinyan’s meeting with eight senior clergy members on 27 November, all of whom signed the Sunday statement.
The unprecedented meeting took place as tensions escalated over a contentious statement circulated by pro-government media, accusing Karekin II of attempting to cover up the scandal regarding an intimate leaked video allegedly featuring high-ranking clergy — Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan.
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Clergy point to the Church ‘mismanagement’
In the Sunday statement, the priests expressed their regret regarding ‘the unhealthy atmosphere within and around our Church in recent months’, suggesting that it could have been avoided if the elections of the head of the Church in 1999, which elected Karekin II, ‘had been fair, without intimidation’.
Furthermore, they alleged it was ‘mismanagement of the Armenian Church’ that led to the intensified ‘crises’ within the Church and between the government and the Church.
Another criticism concerned the political involvement of Church members in various processes with the permission of the Catholicos, which they described as ‘condemnable’ and said ‘contradicts the mission of our Church to maintain the unity of the people’.
Aside from their criticism of Karekin II, they also accused the Church of failing to address or refute the ‘heavy accusations’ against Karekin II, ‘thereby raising doubts about their authenticity’.
‘The current course of the Mother See and the Catholicos of All Armenians is anti-canonical, dangerous, harmful and destructive and can no longer be continued’, the statement read, calling the clergy and Patriarchs to ‘lead or at least call, join and contribute to finding a speedy way out of the current situation’.
The crisis between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church has continued to escalate since late May, with Pashinyan and his ruling Civil Contract party members accusing Karekin II of fathering a child, and hence being ineligible for his role.
However, the meeting on 27 November sparked widespread concern, as several of the clergy had previously been linked to corruption scandals, while others had been the subject of rumours regarding violations of clerical celibacy.
The alleged child of one of the clergy who attended, Argishti Karamyan, has held several high-ranking positions in Pashinyan’s government, including as the head of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS).
In response to the calls, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, who is at the centre of the intimate video scandal, stated on Monday in a press briefing that Karekin II could not leave his post, claiming that it would be a ‘desertion’.
‘I see no prerequisites for the Catholicos to leave. He cannot leave even if the bishops raise such an issue’, Khachatryan said, calling such demands from the clergy ‘betrayal’.
In turn, Khachatryan confirmed that he had had several meetings with various NSS officials, without providing further details of the times or locations. However, as reported by RFE/RL, Khachatryan did say that during those meetings, it became ‘very clear that I am not the person against whom, through threats, instilling fear, and terrorism, it is possible to achieve actions that do not stem from my beliefs’.
He has continued to deny appearing in the leaked intimate video, despite Armenia’s Investigative Committee confirming his identity.
Anna Gevorgyan
