Artur Vanetsyan says 'lustration happened in the church' after bishops' protest

Homeland Party leader and former NSS chief Artur Vanetsyan again accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of waging an attack on the Armenian Apostolic Church after a group of bishops aligned with him sought the resignation of the church’s leader at its spiritual headquarters.

Ten Armenian bishops held a protest at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on Thursday, calling on Catholicos Karekin II to step down. The move triggered large counter-protests by supporters of Karekin II and drew a heavy police presence. The senior clergymen were eventually forced to leave the church grounds amid confrontations with demonstrators.

In an interview to 24News, Vanetsyan said the episode amounted to a form of “lustration” within the church and claimed the government was targeting a core pillar of Armenian identity.

“They keep saying ‘lustration, lustration, lustration’, well, it happened,” Vanetsyan said. “Lustration happened in the church. These ten people were exposed. But the church is not these ten people.”

He said Armenia has “dozens of bishops and hundreds of priests” whom he described as genuine believers standing behind Karekin II even if some had previously criticized his leadership.

“People who once opposed the Catholicos and openly criticized his decisions are now standing by him,” Vanetsyan said. “They understand that the Catholicos and the Church are one and indivisible.”

Vanetsyan accused Pashinyan of confronting Armenia’s historical identity by challenging the church, which he described as a central institution of national survival over centuries.

He also stressed that several “true holy fathers” are currently imprisoned, referring to Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan, Mikayel Ajapahyan and others.

The senior clerics who sought Karekin II’s resignation included Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Arakel Karamyan, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Bishop Anushavan Jamkochyan, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, Bishop Arakel Tigranyan and Bishop Gevorg Saroyan.