Catholicos Karekin II breached the Constitution.

Vaհe H Apelian 

 

Armenians celebrating Independence Day on September 21, 2018. 
Pictures courtesy J. Urban

I quote the following from an article Stepan Piligian recently shared: “It is disingenuous to support Karekin II simply because of dislike of the prime minister, especially when concerns about the Catholicos’ leadership have been voiced for decades. While this does not justify government interference in the elections, the church’s failure to address internal issues has contributed to this confrontation. We cannot afford to let this conflict devolve into a national debate over who is correct.” (Weekly December 4, 2025 - Searching for solutions to the church-government crisis requires transparency).

Indeed so, but as far as I am concerned, it was catholicos Karekin It who breached the constitution causing the constitutionqal crisis. We must also accept that the state is not against the Armenian Church and not even against the Armenian Apostolic church. We must accept that the Armenian church is also Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelical Churches; and furthermore, that the Armenian Apostolic Church rests on four independent administrative pillars. The Armenian government is in conflict with Catholicos Karekin II and the Etchmiadzin ecclesiastical hierarchy and not with catholicos of the Cilician See seated in Antelias and not with the two patriarchs, one seated in Jerusalem and the other in Istanbul.

Of course, this is not a matter of a personal conflict between the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and catholicos Karekin II, although and surely, their personalities play a definite role in the conflict, but the real issue is a constitutional matter. 

As far as I am concerned, it was the Etchmiadzin church hierarchy that breached its constitutional contract and hence triggered the ensuing crisis. To substantiate and bolster my claim I cite the following political posturings of Etchmiadzin hierarchy.

 After Armenia was defeated and capitulated in the disastrous second Artsakh war, or the catastrophic 44-Day War, Catholicos called for the resignation of the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, whom the citizens of Armenia had overwhelmingly elected in December 2019.  

Nikol Pashinyan resigned as Prime Minister of Armenia on April 25, 2021, to trigger early parliamentary elections to resolve the political crisis, though he continued as acting PM until the new government was formed after the June 2021 elections.  But, the citizens of Armenia reelected him in June 2021.  However, the catholicos did not rescind his call for the PM’s resignation. On the contrary, the catholicos Karekin II qualified his call pontifical – Hayrabedagan. That is to say open ended and remains in force until the PM’s resignation is brought about. 

Not only the Catholicos did not rescind his call, he tacitly approval Archbishops Galstanyan, to wage an insurrection against the democratically elected government, calling it a holy struggle, Srpazan Baykar,– Սրբազան Պայքար. During the insurrection. in May 2024, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan issued a deadline for the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign, giving Pashinyan a short ultimatum, initially one hour, then extended it.  In the same breath, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan became a candidate for Prime Minister of Armenia backed by the opposition and naturally supported by catholicos Karekin II.

It such actions do not constitute a breach of constitutional contract, what would it take to breach the constitution? 

I believe, catholicos Karekin II and the Etchmiadzin ecclesiastical hierarchy forfeited the  the Article 17 of the Constitution, that spells out that “The freedom of activities of religious organizations shall be guaranteed in the Republic of Armenia.. Religious organizations shall be separate from the State.” 

It is the duty of the government of Armenia to see that the constitution is upheld. And it also is the right of the citizens of Armenia to see that the catholicos seating in Etchmiadzin upholds the constitution and acts according the well-known biblical command, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"(Romans 13:7).

The Caesar is the Constitutional Armenian State, to which both the church and state should conform.