Catholicos Karekin II Removes Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan as Primate of Vayots Dzor After Joining Pashinyan’s Anti-Church Campaign

By the directive of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Abraham Mkrtchyan has been relieved of his duties as Primate of the Vayots Dzor Diocese. The decision was announced by the press service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

According to the official statement, the decision was made through a Pontifical directive issued by the Catholicos on March 16, 2026.

“By a Pontifical directive dated March 16, 2026, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, has released His Eminence Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Primate of the Vayots Dzor Diocese, from his position as diocesan leader and has granted him retirement, based on his written and verbal requests.

By the same Pontifical directive, His Grace Bishop Makar Hakobyan, Primate of the Syunik Diocese, has been appointed as locum tenens of the Vayots Dzor Diocese, concurrently carrying out the duties of the diocesan primate,” the statement said.

Following this directive, Makar Hakobyan, who currently leads the Syunik Diocese, will temporarily oversee the Vayots Dzor Diocese while continuing his existing responsibilities.

The decision to remove Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan comes after a series of controversies and internal disagreements within the Armenian Apostolic Church in recent months that were connected to his name.

At the end of 2025, Archbishop Abraham was among several bishops who publicly called for the resignation of Catholicos Karekin II. In their statements, the bishops accused the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church of “personal and arbitrary governance.”

After this public protest, a Pontifical directive issued in December 2025 removed Archbishop Abraham from the Supreme Spiritual Council, which is one of the church’s highest governing bodies.

Another dispute arose earlier in November 2025 in the village of Khachik. During a liturgy held there in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the name of the Catholicos of All Armenians was not mentioned, which goes against church regulations.

As the diocesan primate, Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan attended that ceremony. According to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, his presence at the event was viewed as a violation of the church’s “vow of obedience,” which further deepened tensions within the church leadership.

The latest directive formally ends Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan’s leadership of the Vayots Dzor Diocese and places its administration under temporary oversight until a new diocesan primate is appointed.

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