Catholicos Karekin II has defrocked Bishop Gevorg Saroyan due to his lawsuit challenging his dismissal from the post of Primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese. Saroyan was among the senior clergy members who had called on the catholicos to step down.
On Tuesday, Karekin II’s decision stated that the lawsuit obstructed the normal functioning of the Masyatsotn Diocese and created ‘an occasion and conditions for interference in internal church life by state-affiliated bodies’.
The decision was said to be ‘in accordance’ with an earlier ruling adopted earlier that same day by the Supreme Spiritual Council, the Church’s highest executive governing body.
In its statement, the council suggested that Karekin II defrock Saroyan. They assessed Saroyan’s legal challenge of the decision ‘effectively violated his vow of obedience’. They also ‘strongly condemned’ Saroyan’s ‘defamatory accusations’ in his public speeches and statements against the Church, Karekin II, and his fellow clergymen.
Saroyan filed the lawsuit against the church on 15 January, a day after a court in Armenia ruled that he be reinstated to his official position. The decision was a temporary measure, with the order being in place only until the end of Saroyan’s court battle against the Church.
OC Media
Karekin II dismissed Saroyan from the position of Primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese on 10 January, citing his ‘abuse of office, failure to fulfil the duties incumbent upon the Primate, as well as instances of coercion and pressure exercised against the clergy of the diocese’.
In turn, Saroyan denied pressuring his subordinates during a press briefing, instead accusing Karekin II of possessing compromising information on all members of the clergy.
Saroyan supports Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s church reform agenda launched in January, which ultimately seeks to topple Karekin II.
The document also declared the formation of a ‘Coordinating Council’ composed of the signatories of the agenda — Pashinyan and 10 high-ranking clergy members, including Saroyan. The council would be entrusted with organisational functions related to the reform.
Earlier in January, Saroyan, the Coordinating Council, and Pashinyan refused to accept Karekin II’s decision, with Pashinyan claiming that Karekin II was not a legitimate head of the Church and, therefore, his decisions were not legitimate either.
Since tensions between the Armenian authorities and the Church resumed in May 2025, Karekin II, in a similar manner, has defrocked or discharged several opponents inside the Church from their posts.
Separately, the Church is seeking to resolve issues related to another defrocked pro-Pashinyan priest, Stepan Asatryan, through an Armenian court.
On 22 January, the Church filed two lawsuits against Asatryan demanding the return of the keys to the Ohanavan village church, where he had been appointed to serve, as well as an apartment in Yerevan allocated to him by the Mother See.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
