Armenian bishop files lawsuit against church leader

A senior clergyman of the Armenian Apostolic Church has filed a court appeal against a decision by Catholicos Garegin II, marking an unprecedented legal challenge within the church in Armenia.

One of the dissenting bishops, Gevork Saroyan, has decided to file a court appeal against the Catholicos’s decision to remove him from his post as head of the Mashtotsotn Diocese, Caliber.Az reports per Armenian media. 

The lawsuit is the first of its kind in independent Armenia, as the country’s constitution establishes the separation of church and state.

Following Saroyan’s removal, Catholicos Garegin II appointed Hieromonk Ruben Zargaryan as locum tenens of the Mashtotsotn Diocese.

By Sabina Mammadli