As Armenia celebrated the holidays, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has published a statement envisioning a ‘reform’ of the Armenian Apostolic Church, renewing calls for the resignation of Catholicos Karekin II. In turn, the Church responded that reforms should not be entrusted to a ‘self-declared council’.
Pashinyan read the statement at his residence, where he hosted 10 senior clergy members who had called for the resignation of the catholicos.
A video of Pashinyan delivering the statement and the accompanying singing was published on his official social media accounts on Sunday evening.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
The document declared the launch of reforms in the Armenian Church, a roadmap for the implementation of reforms, including removal of Karekin II, as well as the formation of a ‘Coordinating Council’ composed of the signatories. The latter is to be entrusted with the organisational functions related to the reform.
The reforms stem from their concern over the ‘failure’ of Karekin II and members of his close circle ‘to live according to and preach the principles of the gospel, the disruption of spiritual life, and the manifestation of tolerance toward the glaring facts of moral corruption’.
The statement also condemned what it called the unacceptable and ‘uncanonical practice of involving the Church in politics and using it to serve various agendas and interests’.
Tensions between the government and the Church reached their peak in late May 2025, with Pashinyan accusing Catholicos Karekin II and other senior clergy of breaking their celibacy vows, rendering them ineligible for office.
The most serious allegation, however, remains Pashinyan’s claim that Karekin II and his brother, Archbishop Yezras of the Diocese of New Nakhchivan and Russia, maintain ties with foreign intelligence services.
As of January, four high-ranking priests have been detained on various charges.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
‘A self-declared council’
In its response on Monday afternoon, the Church stated that Pashinyan’s initiative ‘directly violates’ the Armenian constitution, as well as infringe the rights of the Church established both internationally and under Armenian law.
‘The involvement of bishops in such anti-Church processes, as well as the pressures applied to the clergy, are condemnable’, the statement read.
The Church also noted that the 10 clergymen were ‘continuing to avoid meetings and discussions regarding the matters that concern them’ with Karekin II and the Supreme Spiritual Council, despite having received invitations to the meetings.
‘It should be emphasised that the canonical matters and reform of the Church are not entrusted to a self-declared council, but to the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, through its highest governing bodies’, the statement concluded.
Earlier on Monday, in another Facebook post, Pashinyan called for a march in Yerevan on Tuesday, as Armenia traditionally celebrates Christmas.
The march is scheduled to take place following the Christmas liturgy, with Pashinyan saying it is intended to mark the holiday.
The march is also meant to symbolise the attendees’ support to Pashinyan’s proposed reforms, and their protest against the use of the Armenian Church ‘as a tool of hybrid warfare of foreign forces’ by Karekin II and his close circle — as Pashinyan claims it is being used.
‘The march will be exclusively peaceful and faithful to the Christian spirit’, Pashinyan said.
