The Council met from November 4 to 7 at the Mother See in Etchmiadzin under the presidency of His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The sessions were chaired by Archbishop Arshak Khachatrian, Chancellor of the Mother See.
In its official statement, the Council “strongly condemned the blatant illegal infringements and pressures against the rights of the Church and clergy.” It said that the criminal charges and arrests of clerics “are based on unlawful evidence and contradict international standards of fair trial and restriction of personal freedom.”
The Council called on law enforcement authorities “to stop the illegal criminal proceedings and to release the detained clergymen and civilians in the name of justice.”
The statement reflects months of growing tensions between the Church and the State, accompanied by arrests and prosecutions of a number of senior clerics on various charges, including two archbishops and one bishop.
Accusing Garegin II of violating his oath of celibacy by fathering a child, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly urged him to resign, calling for broader church reform. He and his political allies have warned that otherwise the Catholicos, whom they refer to by his lay name, Ktrich Nersisian, will face a popular protest.
Pashinian, who says he is campaigning for church reform as a faithful Christian rather than as prime minister, has attended sermons conducted by a priest who was defrocked by the Catholicos for supporting the government campaign.
Last Sunday, Armenian law enforcement authorities arrested the brother and nephew of Catholicos Garegin II on suspicion of obstructing an election campaign of a pro-government party in the Vagharshapat community, which includes Etchmiadzin. The community is set to hold a closely contested local ballot on November 16.
Critics of Pashinian regard the arrests as part of what they describe as government pressure on Catholicos Garegin II to resign. They claim the premier is targeting the church “to please Azerbaijan and Turkey,” which have consistently criticized the Armenian Apostolic Church and its supreme leader for their stance on the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and their former leaders currently jailed in Azerbaijan. Pashinian and his allies have rejected the allegations.
In its statement the Supreme Spiritual Council also emphasized the need for continued attention and coordinated action regarding the issue of Armenian captives in Baku. “The Church reaffirmed its readiness to continue its efforts, in cooperation with Sister Churches and international religious organizations, to contribute to the return of the prisoners and the implementation of legal mechanisms for the protection of human rights,” the statement said.
