Etchmiadzin Vows Legal Action to Regain ‘Seized’ Hovanavank Monastery

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The Armenian Apostolic Church pledged on Thursday to use “all legal means” to regain control of a medieval monastery occupied by a defrocked priest and other supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Helped by police and pro-government vigilantes, the former priest, Stepan Asatryan, has refused to leave the Hovanavank monastery 30 kilometers northwest of Yerevan since being defrocked two weeks ago for backing Pashinyan’s efforts to depose the supreme head of the church, Catholicos Karekin II.

According to the church’s Mother See in Etchmiadzin, two other priests serving at Hovanavank are no longer able to hold religious services there because of threats from “obstructionist groups.”

One of the priests, Father Sargis Sargsyan, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that they cannot even enter the monastery because Asatryan has changed its main door lock. The defrocked priest, who is clearly protected by police officers deployed there, denied that. He also made clear that he will not leave Hovanavank or a Yerevan apartment made available to him by Karekin II earlier.

Other, more senior clergymen sent from Etchmiadzin were evicted from the monastery or barred from entering it ahead of a Sunday mass held there by Asatryan and attended by Pashinyan as well as other senior officials.

In a statement, the Mother See condemned the “blasphemous show” and said Hovanavank was “seized with the direct participation of law-enforcement officers.”

“By all legal means, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will pursue the restoration of its rights to Hovhannavank, elimination of the consequences of encroachments on freedom of conscience, protection of the spiritual and canonical life of believers, and provision of normal service for clergy,” read the statement.

The Armenian Interior Ministry claimed, meanwhile, that the policemen were deployed at Hovanavank in order to prevent “clashes.” The ministry declined to say why it is not enabling the church to reclaim the site.

Pashinyan made a point of attending Sunday’s ceremony at Hovanavank in a bid to step up the pressure on Karekin II. He said it will herald the “start of the practical phase of the liberation process of the Mother See.”

Pashinyan was joined there by several hundred people, many of them many central and local government officials and other ruling party figures. His political opponents strongly supporting the Catholicos scoffed at the less-than-spectacular attendance, saying his campaign does not enjoy popular support. In what they see as an attempt to pull a bigger crowd, the premier announced earlier this week that he will attend another “liturgy” that will be held by Asatrian on November 2.