Armenian archbishop accuses authorities of seeking 'docile clergy'

Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan on Monday accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government of attempting to shape a compliant clergy that would not challenge its political agenda, warning that the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin would resist such pressure.

Speaking at a press conference, Khachatryan, chancellor of the Mother See, said the country’s current leadership “wants manageable, tame clergymen who will serve its interests in the spiritual sphere and will not oppose its policies”.

He said it was “impossible” for the church to agree with the government’s current political course, which he described as dangerous and short-sighted.

“It's impossible to accept a policy that carries numerous risks and dangers. It's impossible to agree with the approach of a political group that consistently preaches the abandonment of historical memory and promotes the idea that we must align ourselves with our enemies so they will stop being our enemies,” he said. Khachatryan called the government’s strategy “a reckless policy, an unacceptable attempt to prolong its rule.”

The archbishop insisted that as long as he remains in the church’s spiritual leadership and Catholicos Karekin II serves as head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, “such an approach will not take place.”

Khachatryan stressed that he holds no personal animosity toward any member of the clergy, including those who have publicly criticized him. “Regardless of what personal attitude any cleric has toward me, I bear no personal enmity,” he said. He added that invoking personal grievances as justification for actions he described as “no less than betrayal” reflected deeper problems within the church’s critics.

Commenting on claims that some clergy refuse to recite prayers such as the Lord's Prayer because of personal dislike for him, Khachatryan said such behavior reflects on them alone. “If their dislike for me leads them to distance themselves from God, that characterizes them more than it does me. May God be with them,” he said.