A group of ten high-ranking clerics of the Armenian Apostolic Church aligned with Nikol Pashinyan has issued a second public statement calling for a December 18 protest at Holy Etchmiadzin to formally demand the resignation of Catholicos Karekin II.
The statement claims that the situation surrounding the Church has reached a critical point and now threatens the Church, the state, and national security. It accuses the Catholicos of unilateral and ineffective governance and asserts that clergy and faithful have been excluded from meaningful participation despite prolonged internal discussions, synodal processes, and public appeals.
This follows a first statement demanding the Catholicos’ resignation, issued on November 29 by the same group after a single meeting with Pashinyan on November 27. The full text of that statement was first published by ArmTimes (Հայկական Ժամանակ), a media outlet owned by the family of Nikol Pashinyan.
In recent months, Pashinyan has intensified attacks against the Armenian Apostolic Church and Catholicos Karekin II. Alongside public attacks, he has repeatedly appeared at staged religious events and so called liturgies led by defrocked priests, actions widely viewed as attempts to undermine the Church’s canonical authority. At the same time, four senior clergymen are currently political prisoners at Nikol Pashinyan’s directive: Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan.
On December 17, the Aragatsotn Diocese, which last month publicly supported the Catholicos, announced that its evening prayer service for the following day would be moved from St. Hovhannes Church in Byurakan to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and rescheduled to 17:00, the same time as the announced gathering. The timing coincides with the evening prayer service, when senior clergy are canonically expected to participate in liturgical duties rather than engage in protest activity. As a result, Holy Etchmiadzin at 17:00 on December 18 will host two parallel actions, a political gathering intended to demand the Catholicos’ resignation and a simultaneous liturgical service, underscoring that the conflict has evolved into a direct contest over authority and political interference in Church governance.
