Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced on Facebook that he will attend the Divine Liturgy to be celebrated this Sunday by defrocked priest Father Aram Asatryan at Hovhannavank Monastery.
“On Sunday, I will participate in the Holy and Immortal Liturgy celebrated by Father Aram Asatryan at Hovhannavank,” he wrote.
The Information Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has confirmed that, by patriarchal order of Catholicos Garegin II, Father Aram Asatryan has been officially defrocked, meaning he is no longer considered a clergyman and will henceforth be known by his secular name, Stepan Asatryan.
Despite this decision, Stepan Asatryan declared on Facebook that he still intends to celebrate the liturgy this Sunday, openly defying the Church’s authority.
Political analyst Suren Surenyants responded to Pashinyan’s post on his Telegram channel, stating: “Pashinyan has set the date for his ‘spiritual gathering.’”
“This is no longer just disobedience, it is open rebellion against the Armenian Church,” Surenyants asserted.
“On October 21, by order of His Holiness Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, Ter Aram Asatryan was officially defrocked. Immediately after the decision was made public, the former priest, now known as Stepan Asatryan, issued a bold challenge, announcing that he is at Hovhannavank and does not intend to obey the highest Church authority.
Moreover, he publicly called on the faithful to join him this Sunday at the Holy and Immortal Liturgy, which he plans to celebrate himself, despite being defrocked.
This is not mere defiance. It is a direct rebellion against the Armenian Church, an attempt to undermine one of our oldest and most vital national institutions from within.
If reports are true that Pashinyan is invited and plans to attend this liturgy, then this act takes on an overtly political nature. We are witnessing the realization of the ‘spiritual gathering’ concept Pashinyan mentioned months ago.
All this confirms that the government's anti-church strategy has entered a phase of open confrontation.
The aim is clear and dangerous: to use defiant clergy to divide the Armenian Church, damage its institutional unity, and turn it into a political instrument subject to Pashinyan’s agenda,” Surenyants wrote.
By order of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Father Aram Asatryan has been officially defrocked.
Previously, as the spiritual leader of Hovhannavank, he denied involvement in recent developments concerning the Aragatsotn Diocese: “I am not involved in law enforcement matters. These developments have been ongoing for about a month and a half, but I have had no part in the latest events,” he stated.
