By MAITRE BARKEV DAVIDIAN
We Armenians have a wise saying: “Know your limits; don’t go beyond them.”
And it is precisely due to clergymen and religious figures who cross those limits that our Holy Church is so harshly discredited today.
The current Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, who maintained cordial and close cooperation with former authorities—when all the absurd efforts by his associates to bring about a regime change failed—shamelessly cast aside his cassock and descended into the political arena. He encouraged two of his subordinates, so-called archbishops, to ensure a power shift at any cost—using language unbecoming of their calling, actively participating in street rallies, and even daring to plan criminal activity and terrorism.
When those clerics—who were planning acts of terrorism with the full knowledge and blessing of the Catholicos—were arrested by law enforcement, an uproar erupted from all those who belonged to his clan or faction. These were individuals who had benefitted from commercial privileges, shared in the prestige of Holy Etchmiadzin, or were enslaved by the many medals lavishly awarded to them.
It is no secret that Karekin II, the current Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, was elected in 1999 through a massive fraud scheme, with the complicity of then-president Robert Kocharyan and a circle of wealthy Armenians both local and from the diaspora. Today, his involvement in politics serves as repayment—a payback—to Robert Kocharyan.
From the editorial of the previously neutral online publication “Keghart”, dated August 8, 2013, I wish to share a translated excerpt listing several accusations against Karekin II:
- He is the father of two children. A photo of one of them can be found
- He has limited understanding of theology and little knowledge of the history of the Armenian Church. He even makes mistakes when reciting the Lord’s Prayer, and his being a true believer is
- He lacks the grace, dignity, and charisma of a spiritual He is a tyrannical administrator of Holy Etchmiadzin, dressing as an oligarch in a violet robe.
- As an oligarch, he owns a minibus transportation company in Yerevan and has expropriated church-owned properties.
- He has defrocked or deposed at least 160 archbishops, bishops, priests, and Never in the 1,700-year history of the Armenian Church has there been such a mass defrocking. These actions are described as a “reign of terror” and a “spiritual massacre” against the Armenian Apostolic Church.
- He supported a convicted and criminal cleric—Father Vache Hayrapetyan—turning against the then-beloved and respected Archbishop Norvan Zakarian, leader of the French diocese.
When Father Hayrapetyan was serving in Nice, France, the local church community pleaded with Karekin II to remove that dishonorable priest. All their appeals were ignored.
I will end this list of accusations against Karekin II here, which were researched and verified by the editors of Keghart. But I must also mention another case—that of a talented priest known for his serious theological, literary, and academic writings: Father Abel Manoukian.
He was regarded as one of the most capable and educated priests serving the Armenian Church until he was defrocked by Karekin II. He served as the spiritual pastor of the Armenian community in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was beloved and respected. Bishop Norvan later resigned from his leadership role in France, unable to tolerate Karekin II’s authoritarianism.
Father Abel was also defrocked because he refused to become a slave to Karekin II.
By defrocking such a uniquely gifted priest, Karekin II added yet another mark to his authoritarian rule and deprived our Church of the contribution of a truly graceful servant.
And this is the kind of man—one who harms the Armenian Apostolic Church and serves only his own interests—that some now wish to defend, motivated by narrow-minded and anti-national agendas, foolishly claiming that the Holy See of Etchmiadzin is “under threat.”
Yes, it is the man occupying the throne of Etchmiadzin who degrades our Church through his unworthy clerical conduct. It is time for him to resign. In 1936, King Edward VIII of England abdicated his throne to marry his divorced lover—something forbidden by British royal law. Likewise, according to the Armenian Church’s law of celibacy, a Catholicos has no right to have a wife and children.
“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.” Karekin II has acted against this very principle.
Therefore, not every cross-bearer—no matter how large or precious the cross—is a Christian.
Note: Translated with the assistance of chatGBT
