Armenian Catholicos faces trial on ‘abuse of power’ charges

The criminal prosecution of the Catholicos is part of the escalating conflict between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party and the Church.

The preliminary hearing in the criminal case against the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and six other bishops will take place in a court in Etchmiadzin on 7 August.

Catholicos Karekin II faces charges of “using his official authority to deliberately obstruct the enforcement of a lawful court decision through abuse of power” in his capacity as President of the Supreme Spiritual Council.

They relate to the dismissal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan as Primate of Masyatsotn in Armenia’s southern Ararat province in January 2026.

Saroyan, one of the bishops who support Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s plans for the “reform” of the Armenian Apostolic Church, appealed to the civil authorities. A district court declared Saroyan’s removal unlawful and ruled that he be reinstated.

Karekin and other bishops disregarded the court’s decision and stripped Saroyan of his priesthood on the grounds of disobedience.

The criminal prosecution of the Catholicos is part of the escalating conflict between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party and the Church.

Pashinyan has repeatedly called for Karekin’s removal. Other measures have included the withdrawal of Karekin’s security detail, the termination of military and prison chaplaincy services, and the confiscation of church property.

The separation of Church and state is enshrined in the constitution of the Republic of Armenia and lawyers acting for the Armenian Apostolic Church have argued that the Church’s internal affairs are not within the jurisdiction of the Armenian courts.

Karekin II has not yet commented on the case itself but, according to Armenian sources, said he will not resign if he is imprisoned and will continue to serve as a legitimate Catholicos even while in prison.

For the first time since independence in 1991, the Catholicos was not invited to address the state opening of parliament, although this is provided for in the National Assembly’s rule of procedure. He is also subject to a travel ban, preventing him from leaving Armenia.

This is the first time in the history of independent Armenia that legal charges are brought against the Catholicos and only the second in the last century. In 1938 Catholicos Khoren I was arrested the Soviet security agents and strangled to death.

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