Armenian government publishes document on church crisis

The Information and Public Relations Department of the Prime Minister’s Office has published a report on the crisis of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The document provides justifications for the removal of the Catholicos of all Armenians AAC Garegin II and the reform of the Church.

The report accuses Garegin II of violating the vow of celibacy; failing to prosecute high-ranking clergy for such violations; financial opacity and misuse of church property, “clan management”, 27-year failure to convene the National Church Council.

As evidence of the main claim against the Catholicos - violation of the vow of celibacy - are media publications from 2015 and 2019, which speak about the daughter of Karegin II, as well as statements by several clergymen.

The authors of the report cite five steps to resolve the crisis of the church, including: the formation of a coordination group, the removal of the Catholicos and the election of a new one, the approval of reforms.

Karegin II, the 132nd head of the AAC, was elected in 1999. Since 2020, he has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for foreign policy decisions, mainly for the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh. In February, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia opened a criminal case against him on obstruction of the execution of the judicial act.

Lucine Balasian