Criminal Case Involving Catholicos Karekin II Sent to Court

YEREVAN — Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has sent to court a criminal case involving Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and several senior clergymen.

The spiritual leader and five members of the Supreme Spiritual Council have been charged with intentionally obstructing the enforcement of a lawful court decision through the use of their official positions.

The legal dispute arose following the dismissal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, whose secular name is Arman Saroyan, as head of the Masyatsotn Diocese.

After being removed from office by a decision of the Catholicos in January 2026, Saroyan appealed to the courts. The Armavir Regional Court of First Instance ruled that he should remain in office until the case was resolved and prohibited the Church from interfering with the exercise of his authority or his management of the diocese’s financial accounts.

Despite the court’s decision and an official notice from the Compulsory Enforcement Service, Karekin II and the Supreme Spiritual Council decided to defrock Saroyan.

According to prosecutors, the Church leadership deliberately circumvented and violated the court’s order by taking this action.

The defendants in the case are Catholicos Karekin II, Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Archbishop Haykazun Najaryan, Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, Bishop Edgar Hakobyan and Bishop Arthur Hakobyan. All six have been formally charged.

The Catholicos of All Armenians has also been prohibited from leaving Armenia.

In March, clergy members of the Masyatsotn Diocese expressed disagreement with and concern over the interim ruling issued by the Armavir Regional Court of First Instance. They argued that the decision effectively required them to recognize former Bishop Gevorg Saroyan as their diocesan leader, even though he had already been defrocked and, under Church canon law, had become a layperson known as Arman Saroyan.

Karekin II dismissed Saroyan as head of the Masyatsotn Diocese on January 10.

“The decision was based on instances in which the diocesan leader abused his position, failed to carry out his duties and subjected members of the diocesan clergy to coercion and pressure,” the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin said in a statement at the time.

Saroyan is one of 10 bishops who had called for the Catholicos’s resignation, held meetings with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and repeatedly issued public statements criticizing the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.