Clerics reject Pashinyan's 'church reform' plan, pledge loyalty to Armenian church leader

Dozens of Armenian Apostolic Church clerics have issued public statements rejecting a so-called “church reform” initiative backed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a group of bishops and archbishops, denouncing it as a divisive campaign against the church and its spiritual leadership.

The statements came after 16 clerics announced support for the “church reform” plan, a move widely criticized as an attempt to undermine the Armenian Apostolic Church and the authority of Catholicos Karekin II.

Clergy from several dioceses said they would remain loyal to the church, its leader, the unity of faith and nation.

In a social media post, Father Vahram Melikyan urged an end to public confrontation, citing the Catholicos’s New Year message. “God is not a God of confusion but of peace,” he wrote. “Let us stop the noise, restore inner harmony and listen to God’s voice.”

He said the reform campaign had “no connection with God, His word, or the Body of Christ, which is the Holy Church,” adding that it was “tearing at people’s hearts and faith.”

Father Serob Azaryan used harsher language, accusing clerics who joined the initiative of betrayal. “Those who sell their spiritual calling for money… are no brothers of mine,” he said. “Even if I remain the last cleric, I will stand with the faith of this nation, our martyrs’ blood and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.”

In a separate statement, Abbot Hovhannes Torgomyan warned against the “false reform”.

“The false reformer never says, ‘I am wrong.’ He says, ‘Everyone is wrong except me,’” he wrote. “This is not reform but spiritual narcissism.”

He accused proponents of replacing repentance with politics and faith with spectacle. “The Church was not created for show. The Church was created for salvation,” Torgomyan said.

The clerics' statements are available on their Facebook pages and the Facebook page of Armenian Church News.