Aide to Armenian ruling party MP identified as 'fake' acolyte at Hovhannavank service

An aide to a lawmaker from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has been identified as the “fake” acolyte who took part in a liturgy led by defrocked priest Aram Asatryan at the Hovhannavank Monastery in October.

Rafayel, who appeared at the ceremony in clerical garb, is the public assistant to MP Tigran Parsilyan. He attended a public hearing on the events of 1 March 2008 in the parliament on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Rafayel objected strongly to being called a “fake acolyte”.

“I am an acolyte. There is no such thing as a fake acolyte,” he said, adding that he joined the Civil Contract party after quitting the church service.

Rafayel said he served as a deacon in 2018. Asked how he later became an unpaid assistant to Parsilyan, he explained that he had grown disillusioned with the church.

“After 2020, I left the church out of disappointment as a secular person,” he added.