Armenian PM reportedly forms pro-gov't clergy group to pressure Church

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has informed a small circle that a group of clergymen has been assembled to advance the government’s interests and develop an action plan against elements within the Church, per the Yerevan-based newspaper Zhoghovurd.

“According to our sources, during internal discussions within the clergy, these priests are expected to constantly speak about people from the Catholicos’ inner circle, about the anti-church campaign that has begun due to their actions, and about the pressure to come,” Caliber.Az quotes the paper. 

The outlet claims that the actions of this group of clergymen could provoke discontent within the Armenian Church and trigger a revolt against Catholicos Garegin II. As a result, he would be forced to leave his residence in Etchmiadzin.

The paper says that in private conversations, Pashinyan asserts that pressure on the church will soon increase and that the authorities will achieve their desired results.

Sources cited by the outlet say that Father Ter Aram (Stepan Asatryan), who was defrocked by Garegin II, will lead the group of clergymen opposing the Catholicos. Sources claim that Ter Aram has received full guarantees from the authorities to act as he wishes, provided that ultimately Nikol Pashinyan can remove the Catholicos and expel him from the residence, while Stepan Asatryan would be reinstated and the decision to defrock him would be overturned.

By Khagan Isayev