Defrocked priest at center of crackdown in Armenia’s Apostolic Church

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II has officially stripped rebellious priest Aram Asatryan of his clerical dignity. 

As reported by Caliber.Az citing Armenian media, Asatryan has now reverted to his lay name, Stepan Asatryan.

His final church ceremony — a wedding — was captured on camera by journalists on the same day that 13 priests were detained based on his earlier statements. Among those later arrested were two clerics, including Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, who is notably the nephew of the Catholicos himself.

On October 15, Armenian law enforcement detained 13 members of the clergy, including Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, head of the Aragatsotn Diocese, along with three laymen. Criminal proceedings were launched against three of them, including the bishop.

The charges include forcing citizens to participate in assemblies, theft of property through abuse of trust on a large scale and using official position, and obstructing the right to vote through the misuse of official authority.

These arrests form part of an intensifying confrontation between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government, signalling a deepening church-state crisis. Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan’s detention, due to both his senior position and his family ties to Catholicos Karekin II, has drawn particular attention.

The wave of arrests follows an earlier high-profile case in June 2025, when Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly inciting the overthrow of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government. The Armenian Apostolic Church denounced the verdict as politically motivated, describing it as part of a broader campaign against the clergy.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has dismissed accusations of persecuting the Church, countering instead that Catholicos Karekin II unlawfully occupies his position. Church leaders, however, insist that the government’s actions represent a systematic effort to weaken and delegitimise the Church’s authority in Armenian society.

By Tamilla Hasanova