The supreme head of the church also reaffirmed support for Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian, who was arrested and prosecuted last week right after decrying Pashinian’s campaign.
“Instead of striving for unity in the face of numerous challenges confronting our nation, sorrowful acts continue to be perpetrated to divide our society,” Garegin said in a message read out outside the church’s main cathedral. “The anti-church campaign unleashed by the authorities poses a grave threat to our national unity, undermines our country’s internal stability, and strikes directly at Armenian statehood.”
“Only days ago, we bore witness to a reprehensible act: the unlawful persecution of the national benefactor, Mr. Samvel Karapetian — a devout Armenian who has courageously defended Holy Etchmiadzin,” he told hundreds of worshippers after presiding over a Mass.
Armenian opposition supporters join a religious festival in Echmiadzin, June 22, 2025.
Karapetian accused Pashinian of “attacking” the church and expressed readiness to “participate” in its defense as he visited Echmiadzin on June 17. Pashinian reacted furiously to that, pledging “deactivate” the Moscow-based tycoon. The latter was arrested and charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the Armenian government hours later. The Armenian opposition as well as the church’s Mother See in Echmiadzin strongly condemned his arrest.
Karapetian, who is known for his lavish donations to the church. has remained defiant since then. In a series of statements released from prison in recent days, he predicted Pashinian’s imminent downfall.
Pashinian demanded Garegin’s resignation earlier this month, accusing the Catholicos and other clerics having had secret sex affairs in breach of their vows of celibacy. He pledged to set up a body tasked with installing a new church head.
Opposition leaders condemned the move as illegal. They claim that the Armenian premier launched a smear campaign against the church in a bid to please Azerbaijan and/or neutralize a key source of opposition to his unilateral concessions to Armenia’s arch-foe.
Catholicos Garegin II is greeted by supporters at Zvartnots airport, Yerevan, June 11, 2025.
Pashinian began attacking the church late last month just as Garegin attended an international conference in Switzerland on the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian religious and cultural heritage. In a speech at the conference, the Catholicos accused Azerbaijan of committing ethnic cleansing in Karabakh and illegally occupying Armenian border areas. He also denounced the ongoing “sham trials” of eight former Karabakh leaders captured during Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive.
In his latest message, Garegin stressed that the church will continue “safeguarding the rights and interests of our nation.”
“Let us pray for our sisters and brothers of Artsakh (Karabakh), standing with them in their suffering and perseverance,” he said. “Let us pray for the release of our sons and daughters held captive in Azerbaijan, and for the freedom of the esteemed national benefactor Mr. Samvel Karapetian unjustly imprisoned within our land.”
Pashinian continued, meanwhile, to attack Garegin. A senior member of Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party said on Monday that the premier’s efforts to replace have entered an “active phase.”
Under Armenia’s constitution, the ancient church, to which the vast majority of Armenians belong, is separated from the state.
