If Pashinyan jails Catholicos Karekin II, will Armenians still remain in a coma?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is crossing all permissible red lines, exceeding every limit on his power. In the past eight years, Pashinyan has violated hundreds of laws and multiple provisions of the constitution. Meanwhile, a large number of Armenians have been thrown in jail, not for violating the law, but for simply disagreeing with him — a fundamental right that all citizens are supposed to enjoy in a democratic state. Pashinyan has made it clear that laws do not apply to him. He can violate any law, and no judge can stop him, as he has boastfully claimed. Ever since seizing power in 2018, Pashinyan has viciously attacked the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and its leadership. Despite his unchristian behavior, he frequently quotes the Holy Scriptures to deceive his gullible followers. The Holy Bible cites Matthew 4:5-7, Luke 4:9-12, and Psalm 91:11-12 — in which the devil, also quoting Scriptures, urged Jesus to throw himself down from the top of the Temple, claiming that the angels would save him. Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Even though there has been an unsubstantiated rumor for a long time that the Catholicos had fathered a child, Pashinyan waited for seven years after coming to power to exploit this rumor when it suited his narrow political purposes. For over a year now, he has abused his high office by trying to depose Catholicos Karekin II. Pashinyan has made public calls, issued personal threats and even used vulgar language on his Facebook page to force the Catholicos to resign. Having failed in all of these attempts, he went as far as blackmailing 10 high-ranking clergymen to force them to side with him against the Catholicos. Under the guise of “reforming” the Church, he formed a “citizens’ committee” to replace the Catholicos. It is mind-boggling that a man who is too incompetent to rule the country wants to meddle in the internal affairs of the Church and decide who should be the next Catholicos. This is none of his business. Naturally, all of these efforts are clear violations of Armenia’s constitution, which calls for the separation of church and state. But, since Pashinyan has established an autocratic one-man rule, he persists in trying to impose his will. In early January, when Catholicos Karekin II and a committee of six bishops dismissed Bishop Gevorg Saroyan as the primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese, Pashinyan urged Saroyan to reject the Church’s internal decision and file a lawsuit to block his dismissal. The Church leadership then defrocked him on Jan. 27. The court illegally ordered the Catholicos not to dismiss Saroyan and banned Karekin II from leaving the country, depriving him and the six bishops of the Supreme Spiritual Council of the opportunity to participate in an important episcopal conference in Austria. Nevertheless, the conference was held, and the 25 bishops who gathered from around the world expressed their support for the Catholicos and criticized Pashinyan’s government for prosecuting the Church. The preliminary hearing for the trial of the Catholicos and the six other bishops is set for Aug. 7, at 4 p.m., at the Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) Court. This is the first time that the independent Republic of Armenia has filed criminal charges against a Catholicos of All Armenians. During their centuries-long rule, neither the Ottoman Empire nor czarist Russia ever brought legal charges against any of the Catholicoi. The only exception was the murder of Catholicos Khoren I, who was strangled to death by Soviet security agents on April 6, 1938. The dragging of the Catholicos to court is an illegal act and a flagrant abuse of power by Pashinyan’s government. Armenians have been telling the world with great pride for over 1,700 years that Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity. Yet, their own government is treating the Church’s leadership as criminals. The only good news is Catholicos Karekin II’s announcement that he will not resign even if he is arrested and imprisoned. He will continue to serve as the legitimate Catholicos even while sitting in jail. The Pashinyan government has, over the past eight years, committed a series of unprecedented anti-Church acts: In 2018, it canceled the diplomatic passports of clergy members. It eliminated the subject of “History of the Armenian Church” from the public school curriculum. In 2024, it discontinued the services of the chaplains stationed at penitentiaries. It terminated the spiritual services of the chaplains in the Armed Forces. It plans to confiscate all Church buildings and properties. Its security forces raided the grounds of Holy Etchmiadzin to arrest an archbishop. It arrested and imprisoned several high-ranking clergymen on bogus charges. In violation of parliament’s rules, the authorities did not allow the Catholicos to say a prayer at its opening session on Aug. 2, 2026. It collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and penalties from the Church on candles bought by worshippers, even though the Church is a nonprofit organization and those purchasing candles are making donations. Judge Hakob Manukyan should dismiss the charges against the Catholicos and the six bishops on Aug. 7 so that he will not become an accomplice to Pashinyan’s illegal actions. Otherwise, Judge Manukyan will become the subject of international ridicule when the European Court of Human Rights eventually rules that his verdict violated Armenia’s constitution. Meanwhile, Armenians both in Armenia and the Diaspora should wake up from their long-lasting state of complacency and raise their voices in protest. If they continue to remain silent even after the Catholicos is arrested and imprisoned, then they do not deserve to have a Church or a homeland.

If Pashinyan jails Catholicos Karekin II, will Armenians still remain in a coma?

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Harut Sassounian

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This story is FREE for you...

Harut Sassounian

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