Assault on the Church: A Growing Danger to Rights and Democratic Values
05.06.2025
By Aram Tadevosyan
Democracy Watch – On May 29, during a government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking about the condition of historical and cultural monuments, remarked that our churches are “turned into storage rooms”. “A person enters a church to have a spiritual experience, but instead sees someone’s old shoes, clothes, someone has brought their old bed and left it there. How long can we be this fake? How long can we speak of holiness and be this unholy…” Pashinyan said.
These words were followed by responses from several high-ranking members of the clergy, which in turn triggered a campaign by the Prime Minister and other representatives of the ruling party targeting church officials. The campaign has been accompanied by offensive language, which has become commonplace among the ruling elite, as well as moral and religious accusations.
Insults Directed at the Clergy
Pashinyan’s Facebook page has, for several days, featured a stream of biblical quotations interspersed with posts referencing the private lives of clergy. One of the most shocking posts came on May 30, when he wrote, without naming anyone: “Holy one, go on and keep banging your uncle’s wife—what do you want from me?” Even by Armenian standards, where targeted, offensive, and discriminatory political discourse is widespread, the Prime Minister’s language caused shock and disbelief. This post marked the beginning of a full-scale campaign against the senior clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, joined by various ruling party representatives and pro-government figures. State-aligned media outlets have been actively amplifying the narratives pushed by these actors.
Even harsher language has been used by the Prime Minister’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, who, without naming names, attributed severe crimes—such as pedophilia and links to criminal activity—to certain clergy. She wrote: “The country’s leading pedophiles have lost their minds over the word ‘closet’…” In the same post, clearly referring to Catholicos Karekin II, she called him “the country’s leading spiritual mafioso.” It should be emphasized that no clergyman in Armenia has been charged with pedophilia or any other criminal offense.
Invasion of Privacy and Threats
In their campaign, authorities have used church canons as tools to target clergy who have allegedly violated those rules. Pashinyan has posted multiple times on Facebook about alleged breaches of the vow of celibacy by high-ranking clergy and the supposed consequences. He has implied that he possesses information showing that certain bishops—and the Catholicos himself—have had sexual relations while holding ecclesiastical office, which is forbidden by the Armenian Apostolic Church’s rules. “Some people were upset that I wasn’t officially married. Half of our spiritual elite is in the same situation, and no one seems to care,” the Prime Minister wrote.
Justifying his position by arguing that the Armenian people—most of whom belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church—have the right to clergy who abide by Christian values and canons, the Prime Minister believes that church officials who have broken their vow of celibacy must step down. In his view, having morally compromised individuals in high ecclesiastical office—such as a Catholicos with children—is a national security issue.
Turning the subject of celibacy into one of national importance has been followed by a thinly veiled threat of state action. “What is morally more honest? To voluntarily resign, or to fall into the trap of endless worry—will there be an investigation? Will the truth come out?” Pashinyan wrote.
Throughout the campaign against senior clergy, the authorities have openly violated individuals’ personal space, which constitutes a breach of fundamental rights. As a secular country, the Republic of Armenia’s Constitution and laws take precedence over any religious organization’s internal statutes, including those of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Alleged violations of ecclesiastical rules cannot justify the public exposure of someone’s intimate life.
Interference in Church Autonomy
Matters that fall under the church’s internal regulations—and which should never be made public—have been turned into public discourse by the Prime Minister, who is now seeking to interfere in the Church’s governance, a power he does not possess.
According to the Constitution of Armenia, religious organizations are separate from the state and possess internal autonomy. The head of the executive branch has no right to influence the appointment of bishops or the Catholicos based on alleged violations of ecclesiastical or moral norms, nor to interfere in the internal affairs of the church in any other way. Pashinyan’s statement that the Republic of Armenia should have a decisive voice in the election of the Catholicos and that candidates should undergo a “morality screening” is a direct infringement on the church’s autonomy.
This point was also raised by the Armenian Apostolic Church itself. In a statement by its Supreme Spiritual Council, it was emphasized that “church matters are resolved in accordance with ecclesiastical order and canon law and are beyond the authority of state and political figures.”
So far, the government has limited itself to words and media attacks, but there is growing concern that this could escalate into legislative interference—a move that would be a profoundly undemocratic step and a serious blow to religious freedom in Armenia.
Manipulation and Distraction
The Prime Minister and his allies have been criticized not only by the opposition and the Church but also by many public figures and civil society organizations for their language and abuse of power. For example, 17 civil society organizations issued a joint statement titled “Stop Exploiting Women in Political Conflicts”, in which they strongly condemned “Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s social media post targeting the alleged female partner of a clergyman by disclosing identifiable information and turning her into a passive sexual object in order to discredit the cleric.” The organizations demanded that Pashinyan remove the post and issue a public apology.
Isabella Sargsyan, a member of the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, also criticized the Prime Minister’s statements, saying:
“If the state begins interfering in the social dogmas of religious organizations by labeling them moral or immoral, it will soon face unsolvable dilemmas and regret ever opening the issue. Can a Muslim woman not cover her hair? Can a Jew work on the Sabbath? Can a Catholic woman have an abortion? Can a Yezidi marry outside the community? Can a believer be gay? Can a woman enter the altar? Can a Sikh cut his hair?”
It is evident that the root of the current conflict between the Armenian government and the Church is political. The ruling authorities and the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church have deep disagreements on a number of key national issues. One of the most prominent opposition figures today is Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The government perceives the Catholicos and other high-ranking clergy not merely as religious figures but as political adversaries, and is using the full range of available tools to undermine them.
Most concerning, however, is that the ruling party and the prime minister himself are fueling this deterioration, using aggressive tactics that threaten both democratic norms and religious freedom. Rather than acting as a stabilizing force, they have often escalated tensions through divisive rhetoric and personal attacks, setting a troubling example for political discourse. This behavior undermines efforts to build consensus on key national issues and risks entrenching deep societal divisions at a critical juncture for Armenia’s democratic development.
Democracy Watch is a joint initiative of CivilNet and the Regional Center for Democracy and Security (RCDS).
Aram Tadevosyan is an analyst at the RCDS.