Armenian Prime Minister accuses Church Chief of a parent child of feverish political

Armenia’s liberal government has never been an ally of a deeply conservative Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), but when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed unusual accusations against the unnamed senior clergy, he undermined a deep rupture.

“Your please go with your uncle’s wife. What do you want from me?” said Pashinian.

He also accused the highest spiritual leader – Catholics of Carikkin II – in violation of the oath to celibacy and the father of the child, urging him to resign. The BBC appealed to the church for comment but had no answer.

So far, the Church and the government have found a way to coexist, but the line threatens to share the already polarized Armenian society even further and affect the next year’s elections.

It can also be detrimental to peace talks, which can be repeated by the whole region of the South Caucasus, after the bitter defeat of Armenia in the war against Azerbaijan.

Armenia is believed to be the first nation to make Christianity the state religion after its king was baptized in 301ad. Although there is a division of the church and the state by law, the Armenian Constitution recognizes AAC “as a national church”.

The Church did not appeal to these accusations, but said that the Prime Minister sought to “silence his voice.” He once again confirmed that the government did not speak in the church management.

If this is true, Pashchyan’s accusation will make Catholic unprofessional positions. Under the by -law of the church, only the monks who have taken the oath of celibacy can be selected.

On these signs, Pashinyan now demands the resignation of Karikin, despite the fact that he has no jurisdiction over the church. He did not provide any evidence, but threatened to release it.

Pashinian also attacked other senior clergymen, including accusing one archbishop in Roman, an unusual accusation that they “fool” with his uncle’s wife.

Opposition parties and two former Armenian presidents, Levon Ter-Peter and Serge Sargan, rallied behind the church and condemned the Pashin Movement against him.

The government’s relations with the church deteriorated after defeat in the 2020 war against neighboring Azerbaijan, when Carikkin II joined the calls of different political groups, so that the Prime Minister would leave office.

Pashinian remained in power, and the church became an excellent anti -government voice.

Recently, Carikkin II demanded the right to return Armenians who fled Nagorno-karab, the Azerbaijani region, which it was restored in 2023.

The Allies of the Prime Minister are dissatisfied with such interventions as they are contrary to the government’s position in permanent peace talks.

Pashinyan pushes to a quick peace treaty that would notice that both countries would fall mutual claims. But the Azerbaijani media confiscated the nationalist opposition, demanding that Armenia are not ready for peace.

The Armenian Church took advantage of becoming a center for dissent. With personal rivalries between the leaders of the opposition parties, he relies on those who are not deprived of the authorities.

Political analysts in Armenia believe this could be a real reason for the sudden attack by the government’s leader.

The following general elections were scheduled for June 2026, and the Church Company could become a preventive strike against the mainstay of the conservative opposition.

The Prime Minister himself linked his position with politics: “We have returned the state to the people. Now we must return the church to people.”

When a powerful benefactor spoke in support of the church this week, the government was moving against it.

Russian-billion-billionaire Samvel Karapetyan threatened to “intervene in the campaign against the church in their own way” when opposition politicians failed to defend it.

A few hours later, his residence was searched, and on Wednesday he was accused of “committing public calls to overthrow the government.” He denies the charge.

The conflict between the political and spiritual leader of Armenia is a very sensitive thing, far beyond its national borders, since there are hundreds of parishes in the Church in the diaspora, from Russia and Ukraine to Western Europe, the Middle East and America.

While rumors of the alleged secret family of Karikkin have long been spreading in tabloids, for many years the parish of the diaspora has been charged.

They claimed that the church leaders demanded monthly payments and micro-bands that used operational autonomy.

In 2013, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem accused Karikakin II of without spiritual values ​​and only seeking his material well -being. The church said the allegations were false.

Until recently, Nikol Pashinyan remained largely over the fight. “I believe that the government does not have a place in the internal issues of the church,” he said shortly after his office in 2018. After many years of respect, the Prime Minister may have changed his mind.

Regardless of the results of this line, it probably deepens the polarization in a society that has already been broken not only by political struggle, but also by wedges, whether it is necessary to be in Russia or the West, as well as tensions between Armenian residents and ethnic Armenians with Nagorno-Karabakh.