Armenian PM, officials support bishops’ call to oust Catholicos Garegin II

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has expressed strong support for a statement issued by Armenian bishops calling for the removal of Catholicos Garegin II from the church’s leadership.

Pashinyan, describing himself as a follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church, said he accepted the bishops’ statement with “filial obedience and zeal” and welcomed it with “determination and firmness” in his role as head of state and government. He also indicated his willingness to meet with the clergy to discuss the matter, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media. 

Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Taron Chakhoyan, expressed his backing of the bishops’ call to “cleanse the First See of sacrilegious figures” and those “covering up wrongdoing,” voicing support for clergy prepared to carry out this process. 

Moreover, Araik Harutyunyan, head of the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office, praised the bishops for what he called their “courage” in documenting what he described as the “desecration of the church,” adding that he supported the ongoing “purification efforts.”  

Armenian Parliament Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan also welcomed the bishops’ statement, emphasising that they were “defending the Church” and asserting that Garegin II should halt his campaign against the Church and prepare to step down.  

Earlier, a group of senior Armenian bishops addressed a statement to Catholicos Garegin II, accusing him of attempting to shield a senior church official implicated in a scandal and calling for his removal from Etchmiadzin. 

This is yet another incident amid growing tensions between the Armenian Apostolic Church and Prime Minister Pashinyan’s government, which escalated in May 2025 when the prime minister accused Catholicos Garegin II and senior clergy of moral misconduct and collaborating with opposition-linked oligarchs to undermine the state.  

By Sabina Mammadli