Blow to the dome: what will Pashinyan's struggle with the Armenian Church lead to?
There is a new round of confrontation between the government and the church in Armenia. Prime Minister Pashinyan said that in the near future he will achieve the removal of Catholicos Garegin II. Local media also noted that the ruling team has decided on the candidacy of a new religious leader: priest Aram Asatryan will allegedly become one. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Meeting at the monastery
In Armenia, after some lull, the confrontation between the government and the church resumed. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a speech in parliament that in the next month and a half there will be a "culmination of actions" against Catholicos Garegin II. According to him, some kind of large-scale action is being prepared on the central square of the Etchmiadzin Monastery, where the spiritual and administrative center of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) is located.
Etchmiadzin Monastery
The Head of government noted that the event will be held in September or October, and various organizational issues are currently being discussed. "There will be no compromise, Ktrich Nersisyan [the lay name of the Catholicos] must leave. The sooner this happens, the better. Nothing will save him," Pashinyan declared. At the same time, he added that the action in Etchmiadzin would allegedly be of a "spiritual nature."
In addition, at the congress of the ruling party, Pashinyan announced that Garegin II, who was elected to the post of Catholicos for life, should leave voluntarily. "It is unacceptable to me that someone without faith, who has no connection with spiritual life, remains the leader of the Armenian Church," he said, adding that the Armenian Apostolic Church has been acting "in imperial logic" throughout history, but now it is time for it to turn to the state.
I must say that the Catholicos is also quite active. At the end of August, he met with the leaders of the new opposition movement "In Our Way," which was founded by billionaire and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who is in jail. The official message of the press service indicates that Garegin II blessed his interlocutors, and called the businessman an illegal prisoner.
In addition, in mid-September, the Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church met with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican. According to Etchmiadzin, Garegin II pointed out the threat of the destruction of the Armenian spiritual heritage in Karabakh, the need to release prisoners and prisoners from Azerbaijani prisons, and also spoke about the fate of the Armenians who had to leave Karabakh. All these are extremely painful topics for the Armenian authorities, which they try to avoid.
The favorite vs. the Catholicos
The fierce confrontation between the government and the church in Armenia flared up in early summer, when Nikol Pashinyan attacked the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church with unprecedented criticism. At first, the prime minister said that churches in the country were filled with trash, "parishioners are looking for spiritual food, but they see bags of cement and all kinds of garbage."
He further recalled that Jesus had driven "all those who sell and buy" out of the temples, then speculated about the violation of the vow of celibacy by the priests. As a result, he attacked Garegin II with personal criticism. According to him, the church leader also violates the rules 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 emphasized.
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
At the end of June, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan was detained in Yerevan, who had previously criticized a "small ruling group" for attacking the clergy. On the same days, security forces sent Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapakhyan, as well as supporters of the Holy Struggle movement and the Dashnaktsutyun party, to jail in connection with the coup attempt.
At that time, the expert community was wondering about the causes of the conflict. According to one version, the authorities do not like the independence of the Armenian Apostolic Church and its patriotic position. In recent years, the Armenian Church has indeed repeatedly become a stronghold of protest sentiments, while Garegin II has the opportunity to speak out not only within the country, but he has established quite close contacts at the international level.
In addition, parliamentary elections will be held in the country next year. The Armenian Apostolic Church enjoys the confidence of the population, and the support of the church can increase the chances of an opposition party winning. Perhaps a campaign to discredit the clergy has been launched to prevent such a scenario. Finally, the conspiracy theory says that it was Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as Britain standing behind them, that forced Pashinyan to attack the main stronghold of Armenian identity.
In any case, after the first onslaught, passions subsided somewhat, and in the second half of the summer, the hostility between secular and spiritual authorities faded into the background. Moreover, the Commission for the prevention of corruption analyzed Pashinyan's statements and concluded that they violate the rules of conduct of civil servants. The Prime Minister had to apologize after that.
According to a number of reports, the authorities then slowed down because they were looking for a candidate for a new Catholicos. Apparently, these searches were crowned with success, and by the end of September, the priest of the Hovhannavank monastery, Aram Asatryan, began to declare himself more loudly in the public space. In a recent interview, he said that he could no longer remain silent about the problems of the church. According to him, the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church does not like believers, and there is an atmosphere of fear among the clergy.
Against this background, the newspaper Zhokhovurd published an article stating that Pashinyan wants to make Asatryan the new Catholicos. According to the newspaper, the priest will allegedly create an image of being persecuted by the current church leadership. In turn, the newspaper "Graparak" writes that the authorities are negotiating with the highest clergy, and they are trying to interest some with financial support.
What the experts say
Caucasian scholar Artur Ataev believes that the struggle between secular and spiritual power is crucial for the future of Armenia.
— Pashinyan realizes that it is the church that is the real opposition. By its nature, the AAC has a rigid hierarchy, a recognized leader, and a clear vision of the desired future. All this distinguishes it from the sluggish and divided political opponents of the ruling team. Globally, Pashinyan faces a simple choice: either he smashes the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church and retains power, or in some future the church will remove him," he explains.
The expert adds that the secular authorities are unlikely to be able to overcome the clergy. According to Atayev, there are people behind Garegin II who are ready to go to the end, while Pashinyan has much fewer of them.
Armenian political analyst Tigran Kocharyan says that Pashinyan does not really have levers of pressure on the Armenian Apostolic Church, so he is trying to take the Catholicos "by surprise."
— First of all, Pashinyan does not have enough street support to threaten some kind of really mass action. Secondly, the legislation does not give him the authority to change the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In the event of a trial, the Constitutional Court, for all its dependence on the authorities, will rule in favor of the clergy. Thirdly, the Armenian Orthodox Church has established good relations with other Christian churches around the world, and in the event of a violent change of power, there will be a major international scandal," he claims.
According to the expert, in such conditions everything depends on the Catholicos himself.
— Pashinyan understands the vulnerability of his position, therefore, he is trying to force Garegin II to voluntarily leave by threats and pressure. If he is firm and does not give in to pressure, then no one will do anything to him. If he gets scared, the coup will become real," Kocharyan assures.
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