Recent Arrests of Armenian Clergy: The Battle Between Church and State

Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the administrative center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has faced government repression (Wikimedia Commons).

In an escalation of what the Armenian Apostolic Church claims is a “systematic campaign against it,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration has arrested several Armenian clerics in an effort to “discredit his political opponents” (AP News). . These arrests come in the wake of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s vehement opposition to the Pashinyan administration. According to OC Media, the Church views Pashinyan’s resignation as “return[ing] the stolen spirit of [their] national celebrations to the people.

Among these clerics are several prominent figures, including Apostolic Archbishop Mikael Ajapahya, who was sentenced to jail time on October 3 for “making public calls aimed at seizing power,” and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, who was detained on October 15 for allegedly “forc[ing] his subordinates to attend opposition rallies,” per Radio Azatutyun. Furthermore, three other clerics were also charged in the same raid on the Aragatsotn Diocese and the homes of its staff.

The proceedings against Bishop Proshyan are linked to statements made in September by Priest Aram Asatryan of the same Diocese, in which he “claimed that priests were pressured to join the 2021 opposition rallies,” according to DW. The Pashinyan administration cited this as justification for arresting him under the pretext of obstructing the free exercise of electoral rights. The Church dismissed Asatryan’s comments and corresponding arrest as “another manifestation of the systematic anti-church campaign instigated by the authorities.”

These tensions between the government and Armenian Apostolic Church are not new. In fact, they extend back to Pashinyan’s ascension to power in the 2018 Velvet Revolution, after which the Church “has increasingly taken on an opposition role, and clergy members have become more actively involved in politics,” per DW. The situation worsened amid the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and later became openly hostile following Azerbaijan’s 2020 victory over Armenia. This animosity reached its peak during the 2024 Holy Struggle movement, which began as a “protest over the border delimitation issues with Azerbaijan in the Tavush region of Armenia,” but evolved into massive protests against the government, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who even "[attempted] to become prime minister,” though this was unsuccessful.

This is not to diminish the Armenian Church’s influence; in fact, the Church “enjoys a high level of public support,” especially in the wake of a conflict in which Armenia ceded territory, angering nationalists like those in the Church, per the Council on Foreign Relations. It is clear that as Armenia inches towards its 2026 parliamentary elections, both the Church and the government will continue to compete over political influence in the country.