Media: Armenian PM picks front-runners to succeed Catholicos Garegin II

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has reportedly identified two preferred candidates to potentially succeed Catholicos Garegin II, signalling the government’s intent to influence the leadership transition within the Armenian Church.

Armenian newspaper Zhoghovurd says that the front-runners are Archbishop Hovnan Terteryan, the Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, and Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia, Caliber.Az reports.

Authorities reportedly anticipate that both candidates would remain loyal, at least until the situation surrounding Garegin II’s tenure becomes clearer.

“The current government can ensure a new ‘open field’ and a redistribution of influence within the Armenian Church after Karekin II’s tenure ends,” the report notes.

Sources indicate that law enforcement agencies have begun individual “visits” to diocesan leaders, including those who signed—or chose not to sign—a statement discrediting the Catholicos, which circulated following a recent bishops’ assembly.

During these meetings, officials are said to have conveyed that “the era of the Catholicos is over,” with potential next steps ranging from a house arrest or isolation of Garegin II to the detention of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The plan could culminate with the public posting of a resignation letter from Karekin II while in isolation, the report suggests. 

By Vafa Guliyeva