Armenian legal expert says government undermining clergy rights in state institutions

Armenian legal scholar and senior church official Gevorg Danielyan has criticized recent changes to the provision of spiritual services in state institutions, arguing they violate both ecclesiastical doctrine and national law.

Writing on social media on Tuesday, Danielyan said that following the effective “nationalization” of spiritual services in the armed forces, similar measures are now being applied in penitentiary institutions. Under the new framework, the Armenian Apostolic Church is deprived of the right to appoint its own clergy, with positions instead offered to a limited number of clerics contracted by state agencies.

He added that efforts to recruit clergy through incentives, including higher salaries, had largely failed. Danielyan cited Article 10 of the law on relations between the Armenian state and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which guarantees the church the right to maintain permanent spiritual representatives in hospitals, orphanages, military units and detention facilities.

According to him, the authorities have increasingly bypassed existing legislation rather than amending it, noting that several provisions of the law have already been undermined in practice. He also argued that recent changes to the Parole Commission prevent any appointee from being considered a legitimate Church representative without the church’s consent.

Danielyan concluded that Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan’s reported refusal of Holy Communion should be understood not as a general withdrawal, but as a protest against an unlawful state-controlled spiritual service system.