The tensions between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church has flared up again.
Pashinyan took the conflict with the Church to another level with his controversial social media posts directed against the clergy on May 30. In a series of Facebook posts, he severely criticized the Church, called for the election of a new Patriarch, and even used profanity, leaving many people in disbelief and wondering whether Pashinyan’s account had been hacked. In his comments, Pashinyan described Armenian churches as closets filled with “bags of cement”, accused the clergy of pedophilia, of breaking their vows, used profanity against the chief of clergy.
The prime minister also raised the issue of electing a new Armenian patriarch. “The Republic of Armenia must have the decisive vote in the election of the Catholicos of All Armenians. Candidates must undergo a background check. This issue must be resolved once and for all,” Pashinyan wrote. Human rights groups urged Pashinyan to delete the posts.
Pashinyan’s spouse Anna Hakobyan joined the social media attacks against the Church, describing the Catholicos as “the country’s chief mafioso.”
“The country’s top paedophiles have gone mad over the word ‘storage room’. Well of course - because storage rooms are the dark corners of the lives of madmen in black robes. That’s exactly where the perversions happen,” she went on writing. Hakobyan went on to attack the critics of her husband, including Women’s Resource Center, which had condemned Pashinyan’s “sexually explicit” and “misogynistic” language.
Pashinyan’s outburst also sparked angry reaction from the head of the Tavush Diocese, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who has had a beef with the prime minister over the policies with neighbouring Azerbaijan. Galstanyan said the reason why the prime minister had targeted the clergy is that: “The Church is the last bastion protecting Armenian identity and values.”
“Targeting the Church means the authorities have run out of ways to appease their base - and are now trying to score points like this,” he stated. Galstyan said it was not a coincidence that Pashinyan chose to attack the Church while the Catholicos of All Armenians was abroad attending a conference in Switzerland. Galstanyan accused Pashinyan of seeking to become and “autocrat” and “the head of both church and state.”
In 2024, Galstanyan led the opposition movement “Tavush for the Homeland”, the group that initially opposed the border demarcation process with Azerbaijan but soon shifted to demanding Pashinyan’s resignation. The movement nominated Galstanyan as its candidate for prime minister.
