Worshippers knelt before the altar and kissed the silver cross placed in a velvet case beside the Bible. A priest warned visitors: Photography had been forbidden for the past week. Outside the church, families dressed up for a baptism posed for pictures in the sweltering heat. Meanwhile, priests in black robes moved briskly back and forth. Their faces were tense. An unusual nervousness pervaded Etchmiadzin, the spiritual seat of the powerful Armenian Apostolic Church, which is now locked in an unprecedented confrontation with the government.
On June 10, the head of government, Nikol Pashinyan, called on the faithful to overthrow the highest religious leader, Karekin II. Pashinyan has accused Karekin II of having a child, a poorly kept secret in Armenia. The Catholicos called for the prime minister’s resignation after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. On July 20, Pashinyan demanded the prelate’s ouster again. “Karekin II has not yet left the patriarchate, thereby desecrating the sanctuary of our holiness,” he wrote on Facebook.
In his message, the prime minister called on his supporters to stage a mass demonstration outside the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where the Catholicos resides, on the outskirts of Yerevan, to “liberate the patriarchate from him. We will do it together. Be ready,” he said, without specifying a date. Since then, speculation has been rife about when he would act.
Alleged coup d’état
At the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the prime minister’s threats deeply angered worshipers, who were shocked to see him attack the church. Armenian identity and history are closely intertwined with this religion, which accounts for over 80% of the country’s population and more than six million adherents worldwide. “The Catholicos is neither a saint nor a true believer, I admit,” said Andranik Machourian, 35, who came to attend a baptism. “But Pashinyan has no right to interfere in church affairs.” “He is destroying our values and our identity,” said his neighbor. The prime minister was branded a “traitor” and a “figure of evil.” Astvatsatur Amiryan, 55, was categorical: “The priority is to protect our homeland and our land. If he doesn’t love this country, we have to get rid of him.”
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