{"id":520179,"date":"2026-08-07T21:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/the-leader-of-the-armenian-apostolic-church-faces-trial-amid-a-dispute-with-the-government\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:38:15","slug":"the-leader-of-the-armenian-apostolic-church-faces-trial-amid-a-dispute-with-the-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/the-leader-of-the-armenian-apostolic-church-faces-trial-amid-a-dispute-with-the-government\/","title":{"rendered":"The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church faces trial amid a dispute with the government"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YEREVAN, Armenia <\/strong> \u2014 The leader of the influential Armenian Apostolic Church appeared in court on Friday to stand trial on criminal charges amid his latest standoff with the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholicos Karekin II and six other high-ranking clerics are accused of disobeying a court order to reinstate a dismissed bishop. The case is seen as a reflection of the latent tensions between Pashinyan, re-elected earlier this year, and the Church, which has demanded his resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If found guilty, Karekin and the other clerics could face up to two years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relations between the powerful church and Pashinyan’s government have deteriorated rapidly since 2024, when tens of thousands of protesters, led by a high-ranking cleric, demanded his removal. They were outraged by Armenia’s agreement to cede control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and normalize relations with its neighbor after decades of territorial disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many clergy members strongly opposed the handover of the villages and criticized Pashinyan, who came to power in this South Caucasus nation amid a wave of hopeful, pro-democracy protests that shook Armenia in 2018. Since then, some high-ranking clergy have faced a crackdown by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading: Pope Leo XIV calls for dialogue and diplomacy regarding the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial judge recused himself.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first court hearing took place on Friday in the central city of Vagharshapat, also known as Etchmiadzin, which is the spiritual capital of Armenia and the seat of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the hearing, Karekin’s lawyer, Ara Zograbyan, stated to reporters that the judge in the case had recused himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI welcome this decision by the judge, because, indeed, he refused to be part of this shameful process,\u201d said Zograbyan, adding that the case will be assigned to a new judge.Related stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Hundreds of Karekin’s supporters gathered in front of the Vagharshapat court, located about 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Members of opposition parties, religious leaders, and representatives of non-governmental organizations also attended the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the pro-Russian opposition party Strong Armenia, called the case against Karekin a “national disgrace”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seemed that perhaps the authorities would come to their senses and stop their attacks against the church, but they continue to do so,\u201d local media quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case of a dismissed bishop gave rise to the accusations.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The accusations arose after the church dismissed Bishop Gevorg Saroyan in January, who had previously called for Karekin’s removal. The church accused Saroyan of abuse of power. Saroyan challenged the decision in court, which ruled in his favor and ordered his reinstatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The church refused, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia initiated proceedings against Karekin and the other clerics in February, accusing them of contempt of a court order and prohibiting them from leaving the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other high-ranking clerics were arrested last year. Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was found guilty of inciting the overthrow of the government, and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who led the anti-government protests in 2024, is currently under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of attempted coup d’\u00e9tat, inciting mass riots, and preparing a terrorist attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, an appeals court overturned Ajapahyan’s conviction and ordered a new trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to Morning Wire:<\/strong> our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest stories of the day.Email AddressSign Up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clergy denounce the case as an attack on the autonomy of the Church.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During an evening religious service at Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Karekin denounced the case that was being imputed to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrently, the authorities are taking measures to undermine the authority of the church, restrict its autonomy, and subject it to their will,\u201d he said, adding that the institution’s autonomy is fundamental to Armenia’s prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, head of the church’s Department of External Relations and Protocol and one of the defendants, stated that the church is not an entity that can be “nationalized, expropriated, and have a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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YEREVAN, Armenia \u2014 The leader of the influential Armenian Apostolic Church appeared in court on Friday to stand trial on criminal charges amid his latest standoff with the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Catholicos Karekin II and six other high-ranking clerics are accused of disobeying a court order to reinstate a dismissed bishop. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133556,"featured_media":520180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2bjZ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/descarga-20.webp","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yerandi Santana","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-5.35.07-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/descarga-20.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}