Armenian premier trying to reshape church to meet his own criteria -  ex-official 

ArmInfo. "Yesterday, a dangerous precedent was set in Armenia's political life. Nikol  Pashinyan (Prime Minister) met behind closed doors with a group of  bishops who had publicly criticized the Catholicos of All Armenians  the day before. He thanked them for their "principled stand." But the  reality is much deeper and more disturbing." This statement was made  by David Ananyan, former chairman of the State Revenue Committee and  member of the political movement "Wings of Unity."

According to Ananyan, when the head of state bypasses the Catholicos  and seeks a special solution with a select group of the College of  Bishops, it is no longer a "discussion." It is an attempt to intrude  into the Church's autonomy, to redraw the balance of power within it,  and to condition church life on loyalty to the state.

"All this is happening at a time when Pashinyan publicly declares  that "the Armenian Church today has no Catholicos." Now the same  message is being put into practice, meeting with "the chosen ones" in  closed halls.

This is no longer simply a crisis of the church. It is a dangerous  turn in the relationship between church and state, where political  interests are attempting to prevail over spiritual identity. And if  this path is not stopped, we may face not only institutional  disintegration but also a new social polarization associated with the  politicization of faith.

Now the question becomes clear: who will determine the future of our  spiritual life-the people and the church, or the tactical  calculations of the authorities?," Ananyan writes on social media.

The day before, pro-government platforms circulated a statement  signed by 13 bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church condemning the  inaction of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II in connection with  the scandalous video attributed to Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan. The  hierarchs' signatures in the published statement were on a separate  sheet. The text of the bishops' statement notes that on November 5,  the Catholicos of All Armenians established a commission to evaluate  the video attributed to Khachatryan.  It is also claimed that the  commission contacted the Investigative Committee of Armenia to  establish the authenticity of the recording. However, according to  the bishops' statement, the Catholicos dismissed the results of the  examination, which confirmed the authenticity of the recording, as  null and void. In this regard, clergy representatives stated that  Garegin II's behavior regarding this matter, which harms the Church's  reputation, is extremely concerning and called on "brother bishops to  join in releasing the blasphemous priest." Amid the scandal, two of  the 13 bishops named in the statement told reporters that they had  not signed any document against the Catholicos.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Arsen Babayan, the archbishop's lawyer, stated  that during Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan's interrogation as part of  this investigation, neither he nor I were presented with the order  appointing an expert examination, nor were the expert examination's  findings presented. This suggests that such an examination was  neither ordered nor conducted. This assertion is based on the  procedure for appointing and conducting an expert examination  established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of  Armenia. "Furthermore, it is clear that even if such an expert  opinion existed, it could not be provided to anyone else, including  the aforementioned bishops, due to the confidentiality requirements  of the preliminary investigation. Given the public resonance of the  issue, I believe that the Investigative Committee of the Republic of  Armenia is obligated to provide clear and comprehensive  clarifications on this matter," the lawyer noted.

The head of the chancery of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, Archbishop  Arshak Khachatryan, himself stated that he sees no grounds for his  removal from his position in the church. "Why should I resign? There  must be legal, canonical, moral, or at least logical grounds for such  a decision. I see no such grounds.  Should I make decisions simply  because some people demand it? Of course not," Khachatryan noted.

Nevertheless, at a briefing following the government meeting that  afternoon, Pashinyan welcomed the bishops' statement. Pashinyan  stated his readiness to immediately meet with the bishops who signed  the statement. In the evening, the bishops (Archbishop Abraham  Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Arakel Karamyan, Archbishop Vazgen  Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Anushavan Zhamkochyan, Bishop Vrtanes  Abrahamyan, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Bishop Arakel Tigranyan,  Bishop Gevorg Saroyan) came to meet him and the Prime Minister  .