Armenian Government Publishes Report on “Crisis in the Church and Paths Toward a Solution”

YEREVAN — A report addressing what it describes as a crisis within the Armenian Apostolic Church and proposing ways to resolve it has been published. The report was prepared at the instruction of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who since last year has sought the removal of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II while making a series of serious allegations against him.

The report, prepared by the Public Relations and Information Center, which operates under the Prime Minister’s Office, proposes a five-step roadmap for addressing the situation:

1. Clarification and public presentation of a reform agenda.
2. Removal, through retirement, of the de facto head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
3. Election of a Locum Tenens of the Catholicos.
4. Adoption of a unified charter for the Armenian Apostolic Church.
5. Election of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

“This report does not challenge the doctrinal foundations of the Church, Sacred Tradition or canonical order. On the contrary, it documents violations of those very foundations in defense of the Church’s identity and autonomy,” the statement said.

The report contains 16 findings that, according to the executive branch, illustrate the alleged crisis.

Among the issues cited are violations of vows of celibacy and the alleged impunity of ethical violations; arbitrary persecution and defrocking of clergy; financial opacity and alleged misuse of Church property; ordinations involving relatives and what the report characterizes as clan-based governance; politicization of the Holy Altar and the spread of external influence; the 27-year failure to convene a National Ecclesiastical Assembly and the absence of a unified constitution; and divisions within dioceses in the Diaspora.

The report also contains allegations concerning the private lives of clergy, largely based on interviews with various clergymen who, for different reasons, have expressed dissatisfaction with the Catholicos.

Although the Armenian Apostolic Church is among Armenia’s major taxpayers due to the property it administers, the report also devotes considerable attention to questions of financial transparency.

Speaking on the issue from New York, Prime Minister Pashinyan said the report demonstrates, in his view, that the Church has been “seized” by Ktrich Nersisyan—Catholicos Karekin II’s secular name—and a group of clergy and lay supporters.