Criminal charges have been brought against the Catholicos. Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
YEREVAN – Armenia’s state prosecutor over the weekend ordered a travel ban against the Catholicos of All Armenians, preventing the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church from presiding over a worldwide summit of bishops on February 16-19 in St. Pölten, Austria.
“His Holiness’s exit from Armenia has been prohibited, marking an attempt to sabotage the Episcopal Assembly in Austria. This is a historic, shameful act by the authorities,” said Ara Zohrabyan, lawyer to the Catholicos, in a post on Facebook.
The four-day meeting will proceed, according to Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of External Relations and the Protocol Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, but not on the same level as envisioned.
“Naturally, in the absence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the status of the Episcopal Assembly changes slightly. It becomes a gathering of bishops, where our bishops will still meet and discuss various issues concerning our Church, especially the current situation,” Archbishop Nathan told reporters on Sunday following liturgy at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiatzin, the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Armenian legal experts quickly flagged the maneuver as an attempt to sabotage the Church’s governance, as well as a serious violation of Armenia’s laws and treaty obligations.
“It is evident that the criminal charges brought against the Catholicos and six bishops, and the restrictions imposed on their freedom of movement, constitute an undisguised attempt to prevent their participation in the Episcopal Assembly,” the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for Political Rights said in an urgent communique on Monday.
The prohibition constitutes “a grave violation” of not only Armenia’s constitution, but of its obligations as part of the European Convention on Human Rights, “in particular the State’s obligation not to interfere with the autonomy of religious organizations” as well as rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the ACPR said.
State-appointed clergy?
The travel ban on Catholicos Karekin II is linked to a criminal case launched by the Prosecutor General on Saturday, in which the Catholicos is accused of obstructing a local court order to allow a defrocked bishop to continue serving as a primate.
Catholicos Karekin II on January 10 relieved former Bishop Gevork Saroyan of the position of Primate of the Diocese of Masyatsotn (Masis).
Saroyan, who in November joined a group of schismatic bishops assembled by the prime minister, refused to vacate his post and instead launched a civil lawsuit against the Church, demanding to be reinstated to his position. A judge accepted his suit and ordered the Church to allow Saroyan to continue his activities, despite the fact that the Church under Armenian law is guaranteed autonomy over its internal personnel decisions.
The Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council defrocked Saroyan on January 28, as he had violated his oath of obedience to the Catholicos. Days later, Armenia’s Investigative Committee accused six Armenian bishops of obstructing the court’s decision and banned them from leaving the country.
The Church insisted that the Episcopal Assembly would continue, with the six bishops joining remotely.
But on the eve of the Assembly, the prosecutor general ordered an unprecedented travel ban on the head of the worldwide Armenian Apostolic Church.
Call for repentance
“Essentially, a court is dictating to the Catholicos and the Church who gets to be a primate. This is absolutely an interference and has no legitimacy, no legal basis,” said Rafael Ishkhanyan, head of the Armenian Center for Political Rights.
Such interference in the Church’s autonomy puts Armenia in “total non-compliance with the European Convention,” he said. “If the Church goes to the European Court of Human Rights, of course they will win.”
But in the meantime, Ishkhanyan conceded, the state is effectively taking control over the Church, and it is possible that other defrocked clergy who have joined Pashinyan’s campaign will pursue a similar legal course.
“Just imagine Church clergy are appointed by courts – not by the Church,” he told Christian Solidarity International (CSI).
“From this moment we can anticipate any absurd decision. I won’t be surprised if one day I wake up and a court decided that the Catholicos is no longer Catholicos. They will convene this ‘reform council’ that Pashinyan made and elect someone as a new Catholicos. Maybe Nikol himself – why not?”
On February 3, the Forum for Religious Freedom Europe condemned the Armenian government’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church, calling on the authorities to “cease interference in church affairs, release those detained on dubious charges, and restore mechanisms for spiritual support in public institutions”.
Catholicos Karekin II on Monday marked the start of the Great Lent with a public message:
“Together, let us lift our prayers that this sacred and mysterious season of the Fast may become for all of us a gracious opportunity for universal repentance and contrition, so that, recognizing and correcting our faults and shortcomings, we may collectively overcome all trials and hardships.”
“The preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ began with a call to repentance: ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
