Bishops Condemn Armenian Government’s ‘Repressions’

The resulting statement signed by the participants condemned the “fabricated” charges leveled against Karekin and indicted bishops and archbishops. It said the authorities in Yerevan must free four of those clerics held in prison or under house arrest and end other “repressions against clergy and the nationally elected Catholicos of All Armenians.”

The statement also urged the authorities to “act exclusively in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, its legislation and international law, and remain faithful to proclaimed democratic principles, guaranteeing freedom of conscience, religion and belief in the country.”

Armenian law guarantees the autonomy of the ancient church and its separation from the state. Pashinyan has been accused by the church and other critics of violating these legal provisions throughout his campaign against the Catholicos. He formally pledged last month to keep trying to oust Karekin in his capacity as prime minister after meeting again with a dozen other bishops and archbishops who broke ranks last November to join his campaign.

The rebel clerics denounced the decision to hold the episcopal meeting outside Armenia. However, one of them, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, not only attended the Sankt Polten meeting but also signed the joint statement by its participants. The statement also appealed to the “erring” pro-Pashinyan bishops, saying that they should “refrain from anti-canonical actions, weakening steps and separatist manifestations which threaten to cause schism.”

Pashinyan’s campaign is causing growing criticism not only in Armenia but also in its worldwide Diaspora. On February 11, eight prominent members of the Armenian communities in the United States and Europe issued a statement saying that his “attacks” on the church pose “direct threats to all Armenians around the world.” Pashinyan responded by accusing them of plotting to remove the seat of the Catholicos from Armenia and seizing church treasures kept in Echmiadzin. He offered no proof of the allegation laughed off by the Mother See.

Pashinyan said until December that Karekin and other top clerics at odds with him must go because they had secret affairs in breach of their vows of celibacy. He then began accusing them of spying for a foreign country, presumably Russia. His latest allegations directed at Diaspora figures in the West raised even more questions about his real motives.