Civilnet
By Siranush Adamyan
Armenia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case that could implicate Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in what officials describe as an inquiry into alleged coercion of clergy to attend political rallies.
The investigation was triggered by a leaked phone conversation, reportedly recorded in October 2023, between Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan and Archimandrite Aghan Ernjakyan, a former aide to the Catholicos. In the recording, Ernjakyan allegedly claims that Karekin II pressured him to take part in anti-government rallies in 2021. Authorities confirmed to CivilNet that proceedings have begun based on this recording, which was first published by Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times), a newspaper owned by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s family. The paper released the material earlier this week, presenting it as evidence of political involvement by senior clergy.
The authenticity of the tape has not been verified, nor is it known who recorded it or how it reached the publication. If confirmed as genuine, the episode would raise suspicions of illegal surveillance of high-ranking clergy and the use of private communications for political ends. Although no formal charges have yet been filed against the Catholicos, the case marks the first time Armenia’s supreme religious leader has become the focus of a criminal investigation—an unprecedented development in the country’s history.
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin issued a strongly worded statement accusing the authorities of orchestrating “another act in the ongoing campaign against the Church.” It said the entire law enforcement system had been mobilized to execute “unlawful anti-Church orders,” describing the publication of alleged statements attributed to the Catholicos as an attempt to discredit him and sow hostility toward the Church. Etchmiadzin added that the secret recording of clergy is itself a criminal act and urged investigators to identify those responsible.
Former Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, who now leads the “Wings of Wisdom” political movement, said the case reflects the politicization of Armenia’s justice system. “The authorities are using law enforcement for narrow political ends,” he wrote on Facebook. “Recordings are leaked when politically convenient. The prime minister has no legal right to access or be briefed on such materials—they are protected even from him.”
The investigation comes amid a broader crackdown on clergy. Just days earlier, Archbishop Mkrtich Proshyan, head of the Aragatsotn Diocese, was detained and later placed under two months’ pre-trial arrest along with six others from his diocese. They are accused of pressuring parishioners during the 2021 elections—a charge their lawyers call unconstitutional and retroactive. The Human Rights Defender’s Office reported violations during detention, including denial of lawyer access and failure to inform relatives of detainees’ locations.
The widening campaign against Church representatives originated from a report filed by the Union of Informed Citizens, led by Daniel Ioannisyan, who urged prosecutors to investigate a televised statement by a priest claiming that clergy were pressured to attend political rallies in 2021. That complaint sparked the broader probe now reaching the Catholicos himself. Ioannisyan has faced criticism from rights defenders, with activist Zhanna Alexanyan calling him a “1937-style informer” and Zaruhi Hovhannisyan warning of “selective justice applied by political taste.”
The latest investigation follows months of growing pressure on figures linked to the Church. In June, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan—a major benefactor of Etchmiadzin—was arrested shortly after publicly defending Catholicos Karekin II amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s campaign to dethrone him. Soon after his detention, the authorities moved to nationalize his company, Electric Networks of Armenia, in what opposition lawmakers and legal experts described as an act of political retaliation. Two senior clerics—Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of Tavush and Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan of Shirak—were also detained that same month and remain in custody pending investigation.
Etchmiadzin has described the criminal proceedings as a “dangerous precedent” undermining Armenia’s moral and constitutional order, warning that “the attempt to criminalize spiritual service and silence the Church’s voice is an attack on national unity and faith.”
The opening of a criminal case linked to Catholicos Karekin II represents the most serious escalation yet in Armenia’s deepening confrontation between the state and the Church.
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