Pashinyan shares his vision of the Armenian Apostolic Church`s role  in the country`s social and political life

ArmInfo.  During a Facebook live broadcast, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about his vision for the Armenian Apostolic Church and it's role in the country's social and political life.

"Much is said about the inadmissibility of the Armenian Apostolic  Church's involvement in politics and the Church's own participation  in political activities. In fact, there is an understanding among the  Armenian public on this issue, if not a consensus, or perhaps a  consensus minus a few. However,  this raises another question: should  the Armenian Apostolic Church have any connection to our social and  political life, and if so, what is it?" Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister believes that the Church should be involved in  public life. "The Church should be a place where people cease to be  either oppositional or pro-government, where even the most ardent  political opponents within the Armenian Apostolic Church put aside  their differences and can stand side by side during our national  church holidays, participate in the liturgy side by side, pray to God  side by side, receive communion side by side, and commune with our  Lord and Savior Jesus Christ side by side.

I believe that the Church should play precisely this societal role,  and its primary task and concern should be the dissemination of the  teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the values He  professed, in real life.  This is how I see the relationship of the  Armenian Apostolic Holy Church with our social and political life,"  the Armenian Prime Minister noted.

Recall, the confrontation between the Armenian Apostolic Church and  Pashinyan escalated in May 2024, when the latter compared Armenian  churches to a "cluttered closet," accused Catholicos of All Armenians  Karekin II of violating his celibacy. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, called  the clergy the country's main mafiosi.  Subsequently, the prime  minister proposed creating a coordinating council to elect a new  Catholicos, promising advisory support to the government, despite the  fact that, according to the Armenian Constitution, the Armenian  Apostolic Church is separate from the state and has a special  mission.  Starting in October, Pashinyan began participating in  Sunday liturgies, primarily conducted by defrocked priests. On the  evening of January 4, 2026, he and 10 rebellious bishops signed the  so-called "roadmap for improvement" of the Armenian Apostolic Church,  which calls for the removal of the current head of the church, the  election of the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, the adoption  of the Church Charter, which should establish "mechanisms for  maintaining established principles, ensuring financial transparency,  and proper conduct of the clergy", and the election of the Catholicos  of All Armenians, "in accordance with the established procedure."

This morning, Pashinyan announced that the number of priests who have  joined the "improvement" of the Armenian Apostolic Church has already  reached 16. Since yesterday evening, the latter have been posting on  social media their support for the "renewal agenda." In response,  clergymen supporting the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church have  begun to express en masse "their filial love and loyalty to the  Mother Church-the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin-and to our  People-the Supreme Patriarch." "May God protect our people and our  clergy, faithful to their vow," wrote Father Maghakia Ohanyan,  adding: "They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they  had of us, they would no doubt have continued with us" (Saint John  the Apostle).