Newspaper: Armenian PM uses diplomats in campaign targeting Catholicos Garegin II

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reportedly enlisted the country’s ambassadors in a campaign targeting Catholicos Garegin II, according to local media outlet Hraparak.

The newspaper reports that Pashinyan instructed diplomats accredited abroad to conduct “informational work” with leaders of Armenian Church dioceses in their host countries, encouraging them to support government positions in exchange for promised benefits, Caliber.Az reports.

Sources cited by Hraparak indicate that Archbishop Hovnan Terteryan of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church in the United States was offered the Catholicos’ throne if Garegin II were removed. 

Terteryan was among the signatories of a recent petition calling for the Catholicos to step down.

Negotiations with Archbishop Terteryan were reportedly handled by Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, Narek Mkrtchyan, who recently hosted the cleric at a lavish reception.

A growing rift between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) have escalated sharply in 2025, centring on Catholicos Garegin II. The conflict intensified after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly accused Garegin II of violating his vow of celibacy, a claim that, under Church law, could disqualify him from office.

This allegation followed years of growing friction, as the Church had openly criticised Pashinyan’s handling of national crises, including the aftermath of the 2020 war.

In response, Pashinyan has sought to curtail the Church’s influence over Armenian society, proposing mechanisms to replace Garegin II and enlisting diplomats abroad to persuade Armenian Church leaders in the diaspora to support government positions.

Reports suggest offers of ecclesiastical advancement were made to certain clerics in exchange for backing the government’s campaign.

The confrontation reflects more than a personal dispute: it is widely seen as a struggle over the Church’s role in Armenia’s social and political life. The Church, one of the country’s most trusted institutions, has condemned the campaign as a politically motivated attempt to weaken its authority.

By Aghakazim Guliyev