Armenian PM targets clergymen violating vow of celibacy

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called for all clergymen who have violated their vow of celibacy to step down from spiritual service. 

The announcement, made via his official Facebook page, comes amid growing tensions between the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church, Caliber.Az reports.

“No one should be concerned with anyone’s personal life. But the people have the right to a church, and to spiritual and moral values,” Pashinyan wrote.

The prime minister’s statement follows a series of sharp exchanges with Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a vocal critic of Pashinyan’s leadership. Galstanyan has repeatedly questioned the Prime Minister’s moral integrity, highlighting the fact that Pashinyan is not legally married.

In response, Pashinyan’s common-law wife, Anna Hakobyan, launched a fierce social media offensive against senior clergy, accusing them of hypocrisy, immorality, and false piety. Hakobyan labelled some clergymen as pedophiles in one of her posts, a comment that provoked a significant backlash online and further inflamed public discourse.

Adding to the controversy, Araik Harutyunyan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, published images showing neglected and cluttered church interiors. The photos were intended to support Pashinyan’s claim that “most churches in Armenia are used as closets, filled with construction debris.”

By Sabina Mammadli