Armenia, its Church, and the Nation’s Future

They will meet in St. Pölten (Austria, February 16–19) — the 56 bishops of the Armenian Church and their Catholicos, Karekin II — for a council that could prove decisive for that Church’s future. In a country precariously clinging to survival, the Armenian Apostolic Church must regain its unity to secure the nation’s future.

The anomaly of a council that, instead of convening at the historic seat of Etchmiadzin (Yerevan) — initially scheduled for December 10–12, 2025 — is being hosted in Europe is only a sign of the dramatic confrontation between the hierarchy and the political world (between Karekin II and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan) and of an unprecedented internal split.

Armenia, which gained independence in 1991 and is squeezed between Turkey’s claims and Azerbaijan’s ambitions, has a population of just over three million and is dysfunctional in the current geopolitical landscape. Even the traditional “protector,” Russia, has withdrawn because of Pashinyan’s pro-Western tilt (see here). The “peace of the defeated” signed in Washington on August 8, 2025, did not smooth things over. The hierarchy blames the government for mishandling the 2020 war, the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, the exodus of over 100,000 people, the subsequent abandonment of other areas there, and for failing to secure the release of prisoners of war.

Pashinyan’s accusations against Karekin II are that he sided with the political opposition by supporting some of its bishops in their actions and, moreover, that he violated his monastic vows by having a secret daughter, breaching the moral rules of monasticism. For months, he has been calling for his resignation (see here).

The government was deeply angered by Karekin II’s trip to Belarus (spring 2025), after President Aljaksandr Lukashenko celebrated an Azeri victory and, in retaliation, Pashinyan decided he would no longer send ambassadors to Minsk. The honors accorded the Catholicos looked like a slap in the face to the Armenian government, which is heading into an election in June.

Arrests and censors

Last June, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the most prominent in the fight against the government, was arrested. He faces ten years in prison.

Then the same happened to a second bishop, Micael Adspayan, who was sentenced on October 3 to two years’ imprisonment.

On October 15 Archbishop Mkrtch Proshyan was arrested along with 12 other clerics. The same fate befell a brother and a nephew of Karekin II, accused of being agents of the Russian secret police.

Finally, at the beginning of December, Bishop Arshak Khachatryan, head of the curia’s chancery, was arrested.

For this reason, Church spokesperson Y. Artenian justified moving the planned council to Austria.

A further step in the conflict occurred on January 3, when Pashinyan published a statement signed by 10 bishops calling for reform of the Armenian Church following the failure of the current management.

On January 5, Karekin II and the synod replied, accusing the rebellious bishops of abandoning canonical obedience, of refusing all contact, and of being victims of blackmail. Among the media favorable to the dissidents are outlets reportedly close to the prime minister’s wife.

On January 10, Karekin II removed the rebellious Bishop Gevorg Saroyan from office for abuse of office and undue pressure on his clergy. The bishop appealed to the local court, which reinstated him, stirring controversy among experts in ecclesiastical law, who argued that the civil court lacked competence in the matter and that a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights was justified to settle the issue.

The designated successor, Ruben Zargaryan, was prevented by police from entering the episcopal residence.

On January 13, the entire synod, in an official note, rejected the claims of the ten rebellious bishops and denounced an anti-ecclesial campaign of unconstitutionality and illegal, illicit proceedings. It defended the honor of the Catholicos against the defamatory accusations against him and called all bishops to attend the closed-door council in St. Pölten, Austria, for clarification. It is unknown how many of the rebels will attend. In the conflict, the initial strategy of forcing Karekin II’s resignation appears to be giving way to a desire to split the Church.

The clergy are also in turmoil, and since autumn 2025, critical voices against the hierarchy and the Catholicos have grown. The best-known of these, Fr. Aram Asatryan, was reduced to the lay state by his bishop, but he did not leave his monastery, and Pashinyan even attended his services. Several other monks and priests have been censured.

Karekin II took office in 1999. He has devoted himself to improving the clergy by founding three seminaries and a theological faculty, to social outreach, and to caring for a population struck first by an earthquake and then by war. He maintains good relations with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and with the ecumenical world. He had an audience with Pope Leo on September 16 last year. His theological training took place at the Etchmiadzin seminary, but he specialized further in Bonn, Zagorsk (Moscow), and Vienna. Perhaps his time in Austria opened the doors to St. Pölten.