Calls for reform of the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified today after the Western Diocese’s Archbishop Hovnan Derderian published a statement describing institutional change as “undelayable” and setting out a series of allegations against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
The Armenian-language statement was released on Thursday following an extraordinary clergy assembly at the Western Diocese headquarters, where Derderian first presented the document to diocesan clergy. In an accompanying note, the Diocese said the text aimed to clarify issues “troubling the internal life of the Church,” citing growing public attention and concern.
Titled “Church Reform as an Undelayable Imperative,” the statement situates the current debate within a longer historical tradition of ecclesiastical renewal, arguing that reform has been part of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s internal agenda since at least the fifth century. Derderian writes that renewed momentum for reform reflects what he describes as a serious erosion of moral authority and governance within the Church.
Derderian lists eleven principal reasons for his support of the reform initiative:
- Alleged disregard by Catholicos Karekin II of a commission he established and expert conclusions, including a cover-up involving Archbishop Arshak,
- Claims the Catholicos compelled priest Aghan Yernjakyan, a priest later defrocked and brother of a hero killed in the 44-Day War, to join a political opposition protest alongside his grieving mother,
- Failure to respond to public allegations that Catholicos violated his vow of celibacy and has a child,
- Silence regarding reports that Catholicos’s brother, Archbishop Ezras, acted as a foreign agent,
- Non-transparent and unaccountable practices at the Mother See, including financial reporting and charitable activities,
- Draft statutes for Church governance were never ratified, despite Derderian’s years of coordination,
- Unilateral governance by the Catholicos, including arbitrary decisions and loyalty-based commissions; violation of bishops’ rights to ordain priests,
- Politicizing the Church by opposing the government’s peace agenda,
- Alleged underground media campaigns against critics and character assassination,
- Leadership decisions that weakened the Mother See, discredited the Church, and alienated believers,
- Anti-state posture and confrontational stance by the Catholicos and the Mother See are deemed unacceptable.
The statement follows a declaration issued earlier this month by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a group of senior clergy, including Derderian, which announced the launch of a reform process within the Armenian Apostolic Church and set out a proposed roadmap for its implementation. The document called for the removal of Catholicos Karekin II and the establishment of a “Coordinating Council” composed of the signatories, which would be tasked with overseeing the organizational aspects of the reform.
Addressing accusations that the reform push is politically motivated, Derderian rejects the claim, insisting that the initiative did not originate with the authorities. He writes that reform advocates have faced intimidation and public vilification, and frames his position as an act of loyalty to Holy Etchmiadzin rather than opposition to it.
The declaration prompted a response from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which warned that the initiative could violate constitutional provisions and risk deepening divisions within the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In a parallel development on Thursday, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan filed a civil lawsuit against the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, seeking to overturn his dismissal as primate of the Masyatsotn (Masis) Diocese, which covers the town of Masis and other parts of Armenia’s Ararat province?
Saroyan, one of the ten senior clerics who joined Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s reform initiative and calls for the removal of Catholicos Karekin II, lodged the claim on 15 January with a court in Armavir, according to the DataLex judicial database. He is challenging a patriarchal decree issued on 10 January by Karekin II that removed him from his post and is seeking reinstatement as diocesan head. The case has been assigned to Judge Edgar Hovhannisyan.
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin said Saroyan’s dismissal was based on allegations of abuse of authority, failure to fulfill his duties, and coercion and pressure against clergy within the diocese.
Following his removal, Archimandrite Ruben Zargaryan was appointed acting head of the Masyatsotn Diocese.
