From temple to trash: what will Pashinyan's war with the Armenian Church lead to?

The Armenian authorities launched an attack on the national church. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that churches in the country are "filled with all kinds of garbage," and bishops violate their vows of celibacy. Even Catholicos Karekin II allegedly has a child. Pashinyan's wife called the representatives of the clergy fanatics and pedophiles. Izvestia dealt with the causes and consequences of the high-profile conflict.

Pashinyan attacked priests

The Armenian authorities have launched an unprecedented attack on members of the clergy. The campaign was launched by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who stated that churches are used as closets and warehouses.

"Parishioners are looking for spiritual food, but they see some trash. Everywhere there are bags of cement, pieces of rusty reinforcement, old concrete slabs, other people's clothes, shoes and even beds," he said indignantly. He called on the priests to stop falsely talking about high things, but in fact — "trampling on the holy things, to be atheists."

Some priests tried to protest. For example, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan advised the head of government to behave more delicately in such a high position. He noted that the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) has repeatedly asked officials to help preserve the shrines, but has received no response.

After that, Pashinyan launched into a series of posts on his social networks. In one of them, he recalled that Jesus had driven out of the temples "all those who sell and buy." He further advised his opponent to continue "having fun with his uncle's wife" and explained that many bishops allegedly violate their vows of celibacy.

"Someone's personal life doesn't concern anyone, but in this case it concerns everyone. All priests who violate the rules of celibacy must leave their ministry and lose their dignity. I wonder if there will be an investigation, if the reality will be clarified," he wrote.

After that, Pashinyan lashed out with personal accusations against the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II. According to him, the church leader also violates his vow of celibacy, he has a child. "If this is really the case, then he cannot be a Catholicos. This is a matter of spiritual and state security," the Prime Minister stressed. He added that the procedure for electing the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church should be changed so that the state would have a decisive vote in the elections, and candidates would undergo a "integrity check."

As a result, the head of government said that the country should create a coordinating council for the election of a new Catholicos. According to him, current bishops should not be allowed to participate in this procedure, and the group should include followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church who "believe in our living Lord Jesus Christ," have read the Bible at least once, and have observed Lent at least once in the last five years. "I will take responsibility for selecting the first 10 members of the coordination group," he said.

The clergy responds with restraint

The Armenian prime minister was scandalously supported by his closest associates. Common-law wife Anna Hakobyan stated that "the main pedophiles of the country went berserk because of the word "closet". The secretary of the ruling party, Artur Hovhannisyan, promised that some compromising material on the bishops would be published soon, "the masks of all the blasphemers will definitely be torn off."

At the same time, religious leaders respond to all attacks rather cautiously. The representative of the Catholicos, Arshak Khachatryan, said that the church would not stoop to the same vocabulary.

Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan of the Shirak Diocese said there was nothing to comment on. "I feel deep sorrow and tragedy that such a person holds the post of Prime Minister. I attribute the incident to his psychological state, the spring exacerbations have ended, but the summer ones have apparently begun," he said.

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Garegin II gathered the supreme spiritual council, which was attended by all church leaders. The final statement says that for the sake of his political goals, the Prime Minister insults believers, violates fundamental rights and pours water on the Azerbaijani propaganda machine. "We call on the competent state authorities to stop this illegal policy," the document says.

Representatives of the Armenian opposition supported the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Aikve protest initiative stated that the church can anathematize those who encroach on its authority. The head of the Department of Theology at Yerevan State University, Pargev Barseghyan, suggested that the Armenian Apostolic Church appeal to the European or Constitutional Court. The Republican Party noted that the church in Armenia is separated from the state, therefore all claims are illegal.

Quite a few lawyers also spoke on the topic. The Five Lawyers initiative called the incident a constitutional coup because Pashinyan wants to control an independent church structure.

Rector of the Academy of Lawyers Ara Zohrabyan filed a complaint with the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. According to him, Pashinyan violated the law on civil service, which prescribes officials to behave respectfully.

Among the reasons are elections and national identity.

There are several reasons for the current conflict. On the one hand, the Armenian Church remains, in fact, the only state institution that remains independent of Pashinyan and his team. Moreover, the religious structure has repeatedly acted from patriotic positions, becoming a stronghold of protest sentiments. Last spring, it was the hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church who opposed the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan in the Tavush region.

The local archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan then became the leader of the resistance movement. First, he led a foot march from the line of contact to Yerevan, and then he held several thousands of rallies in the Armenian capital. The movement was also supported by the central leadership of the AAC. A special statement said at the time that the demarcation poses new threats to the Armenian people, and the clergy cannot remain indifferent in these conditions.

Last year, the protest movement eventually ran out of steam, but the principled position of the Armenian Church has not gone away, and the contradictions between the Armenian Apostolic Church and official Yerevan are only growing. Pashinyan's team constantly talks about striving for peace with Azerbaijan, but religious figures do not forget about Karabakh. At the end of May, an international conference was held in Switzerland on the initiative of Garegin II, where issues of preserving the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage in the lost region were discussed.

During the event, the Catholicos himself stated that an act of genocide and ethnic cleansing had taken place in Karabakh, as a result of which the region was occupied and the indigenous population expelled. All these are completely unthinkable theses for the current Armenian leadership, while Nikol Pashinyan and representatives of his team are trying their best to reconcile with Baku. To do this, they are ready to make various concessions, including the discussion of changing the Constitution, which indirectly contains claims to Karabakh.

In addition, the most important parliamentary elections are due to take place in Armenia in about a year, and the ruling party is approaching the election campaign in a difficult position. This spring, the representatives of the association lost two key positions at once — they lost in the mayoral elections in Gyumri and Parakara. Opinion polls show that the same result can be achieved at the pan-Armenian level. According to research, the rating of the pro-government "Civil Contract" is only 11%.

At the same time, the church enjoys great public confidence. It is likely that she will support the opponents of the ruling party, thereby increasing their chances of victory. Perhaps, in order to prevent such a scenario, a campaign has been launched to discredit the clergy. In addition, the authorities may want to provoke some protests now, so that they will have exhausted themselves by the election date.

Finally, the current Armenian authorities are doing a lot to reformat the Armenian national identity. Yerevan believes that this will help improve relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. It is known that changes have been made to school history textbooks, the change of state symbols, including the coat of arms and the anthem, is being discussed, and the topic of the Armenian Genocide is no longer considered a foreign policy priority. It is quite possible that now it has been decided to deconstruct the Armenian national church.

What the experts say

Political scientist Hrant Mikaelian believes that the secular authorities ultimately want to bend the church to their will.

— The AAC is a serious irritating factor for Pashinyan. Firstly, they openly oppose his policies in the Turkish and Azerbaijani directions, and constantly remind him about Karabakh. Secondly, they have a serious level of support. Polls show that 80% of citizens trust the AAC, while only 30% trust the current government. Finally, they have established an inter-church dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church, that is, they are a factor in maintaining good relations with Russia. I think Pashinyan will try to subordinate the church to himself, it's not for nothing that he mentioned that the state should participate in the election of the Catholicos," says Hrant Mikaelian.

Political analyst Arshaluys Mgdesyan says that the confrontation between the government and the church will increase as the elections approach.

— The secular opposition in the country is weakened and fragmented, in a sense, the Armenian Orthodox Church has begun to replace it. Spiritual leaders have repeatedly opposed Pashinyan's policies, and the conflict gained momentum after the loss of Karabakh. I think the struggle between the government and the church will increase in the near future. We will probably see some compromising material, and there will be attempts to squeeze the Catholicos out of his chair. Formally, the church does not depend on the state, but there are levers of pressure, and it is difficult to predict the outcome of this struggle," he explains.