Father Taron Hunanyan has shared a personal message addressing internal issues within the Armenian Apostolic Church. He expressed sorrow that “under the veil of internal order, the Church often neglects its core Christian mission.”
According to him, “now is the time not to remain silent, not to silence the truth.”
“In recent days, I’ve heard not mere complaints but pain drawn from the depths of truth, pain long trapped in silence, but which could no longer be suppressed by fear. My heart doesn’t seek noise, but I can no longer betray my conscience.
I began my priestly path with love, faith, hope, and energy. Years of service, especially in remote regions, taught me humility before God and human suffering alike. But a moment came when pain overwhelmed me from within, and the ‘responsible ones,’ who were meant to support me, were absent, absorbed in more ‘important’ missions.
Today, I am no longer in active service, and I ask myself: at what point did our Church life become a structure where people’s issues are condemned instead of resolved?
It pains me greatly when administrative coldness, devoid of canonical basis, replaces God’s love, and when political rhetoric, accusations, and threats drown out the Word of God. Truth wouldn’t hurt so much if it weren’t buried under the soulless silence that conceals lies.
Within the Church, it often feels like a person is beloved only as long as they agree with everything. But once you start questioning, speaking up, expressing pain, you’re labeled a ‘burden,’ even anti-Church or a traitor.
This is the greatest danger: when Church ‘leaders’ drift away from their own sons, and the sons lose faith in their shepherds.
I salute my spiritual brothers who’ve boldly spoken up not as opposition, but as people with a conscience who believe truth must be voiced with love, humility, but also unwavering determination. These voices must not disappear into the air — they must be heard and transform the false silences of indifferent hearts.”
He said he wouldn’t name names, “because the responsible parties are known, and the solutions are clear.”
“This is a question of moral courage, when we go blind before injustice and mute in the face of truth. It’s also a matter of spiritual bravery. We must speak up. I’m not one to judge, and I don’t wish to, but I cannot stay silent either.
The Church is my home, my life, my faith, my baptism, my vow. My words are not an accusation or analysis. They are a cry from the heart, a prayer. Let us pray for our Church that it finds its path of love again. That trust is restored. That we pursue not worldly glory and power, but the love of service.
And if anyone believes a priest can be silenced by defrocking, threats, or a promise of a better post, let them remember Jesus’s words: ‘If these keep silent, the stones will cry out.’
I believe now is the time not to be silent, the time to not silence the truth. I pray with patience that many among us will seek the stillness of the heart and find the voice of honesty there.
Father Aram, Father Tade, your words brought me light. Light to see that silence alone will change nothing in the Church. Christ did not save the world with silence, but by proclaiming truth. I join that light, as a brother, a priest, and a man,” Father Taron wrote.
Previously, Father Aram Asatryan stated on Public Television that he was forced to attend all opposition rallies in 2021 and accused the head of the Aragatsotn Diocese of persecuting him. He said this was because he was suspected of “being pro-Pashinyan” and claimed that clerics' social media posts were being censored.
