Nikol Pashinyan, together with ten senior clergymen, has escalated his confrontation with the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church by renewing demands for the removal of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, and formally launching a “reform” process within the Church.
The announced agenda includes the dismissal of the current Church leadership, the appointment of a locum tenens, the adoption of a new Church charter, and the election of a new Catholicos. This initiative represents the most explicit attempt to restructure the Church’s governance under political direction.
These developments occur amid an intensifying campaign by Pashinyan against the Church, marked by sustained public attacks on its leadership and the deliberate avoidance of Catholicos Karekin II’s ecclesiastical title. That campaign has increasingly moved beyond rhetoric, with clergy aligned with Pashinyan conducting liturgical services in his support and engaging in actions widely interpreted as attempts to assert control over Church premises.
During the same period, four high-ranking clergymen, businessman Samvel Karapetyan, and dozens of others have been arrested for publicly supporting the Church.
In the weeks leading up to the announcement, several of the participating clerics held meetings with Pashinyan and subsequently called for public protests and the resignation of the Catholicos. These actions prompted disciplinary measures by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, citing political activity incompatible with clerical office and Church order.
The clergymen participating in the so-called “reform” initiative are:
Navasard Ktchoyan, Araratian Pontifical Diocese
Abraham Mkrtchyan, Diocese of Vayots Dzor
Gevorg Saroyan, Diocese of Masyatsotn
Vazgen Mizakhanian, Armenian Diocese of the Baltic States
Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Diocese of Artsakh
Anushavan Jamkochyan, former Dean of St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Cathedral of Yerevan
Arakel Karamian, Diocese of Kotayk
Artak Tigranian, Monasteries of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
Hovnan Derderian, Western Diocese of the United States
Sion Adamian, Diocese of Armavir
The 301 team contacted the office of Hovnan Derderian for comment regarding his participation in the call for the resignation of the Catholicos of All Armenians but has not received a response.
