Senior Clergy Accuse Catholicos Karekin II of Betraying His Oath; Bishops Meet with Prime Minister Pashinyan

YEREVAN — A group of high-ranking clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church have issued a public statement expressing deep concern that His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, is attempting to conceal and suppress the investigation into the actions of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See, after video evidence allegedly depicting him in inappropriate conduct was circulated online.

The statement was shared on Facebook by Arayik Harutyunyan, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia, who also published the full text provided by the bishops.

According to the statement, on November 5 of this year, Catholicos Karekin II established a special commission to examine the “inappropriate videos circulating online allegedly involving Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan” and to present its conclusions. Following legal procedure, the commission formally requested an expert forensic examination from the relevant department of Armenia’s Investigative Committee to confirm the authenticity of the videos.

On November 25, the Investigative Committee provided the results of the examination, confirming that the videos in question were indeed authentic and attributable to Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan. The commission immediately submitted these findings to the Catholicos for action, in accordance with the canonical requirements of the Armenian Church.

However, the bishops state that Catholicos Karekin II “dismissed the forensic conclusion issued by the very commission he himself had created.”

More than a month has passed since the videos were first circulated, and the bishops describe the Catholicos’s stance as “deeply perplexing and extremely troubling,” given the highly sensitive nature of an issue that threatens to damage the Church’s moral and spiritual authority. They also emphasize that both the commission as a whole and individual bishops have repeatedly brought the matter to the Catholicos’s attention.

“Considering the fact that the Catholicos is attempting to conceal Archbishop Arshak’s sacrilegious act—thus becoming an enabler of sacrilege—we, by the episcopal authority entrusted to us, declare that Karekin II has been unfaithful to the oath he took upon his enthronement to lead the Armenian Church with ‘sound doctrine,’” the statement reads. “His conduct is incompatible with the canonical law and teachings of the Armenian Church and carries the risk of causing schism within the Church.”

The bishops call upon their fellow clergy, as well as the Church’s devoted and faithful believers, to join in the “vital mission of cleansing the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin—our holiest sanctuary—from the sacrilegious cleric and all who share responsibility for his misconduct,” firmly condemning the Catholicos’s actions.

The declaration bears the signatures or names of the following bishops: Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Arakel Karamyan, Archbishop Sion Adamyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Anoushavan Jamkochyan, Bishop Armash Nalbandyan, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Bishop Artak Tigranyan, Bishop Serovbe Isakhanyan, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, and Bishop Narek Avagyan. Four of these bishops—Abraham Mkrtchyan, Armash Nalbandyan, Serovbe Isakhanyan, and Narek Avagyan—were listed without accompanying signatures.

Pashinyan Meets with Group of Armenian Apostolic Church Bishops

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday with several bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan (Primate of the Araratian Diocese), Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan (Primate of the Baltic Diocese), Archbishop Gevorg Saroyan (Primate of the Masis Diocese), and Bishop Anoushavan Jamkochyan.

Earlier in the day, the statement issued by several senior clergy—questioning the Catholicos’s handling of the Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan scandal—had been widely circulated. During a press briefing, Pashinyan acknowledged the statement and did not question its authenticity. He noted that the declaration demonstrated that there are clergy within the Church who are “deeply committed to the spiritual mission of the Church.” With the bishops’ agreement, the Prime Minister invited them to a meeting.

In a follow-up statement, the bishops reaffirmed that forensic examination had validated the authenticity of the videos attributed to Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan and reiterated their claim that the Catholicos is “doing everything possible to cover up Arshak’s sacrilegious act.”