Norwegian Watchdog Questions Armenian Government’s Campaign to Remove Catholicos Karekin II

A Norwegian religious freedom watchdog has raised concerns over the Armenian government’s campaign to replace the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, questioning whether the effort crosses legal boundaries protecting the church from state interference.

Forum 18, a Norway-based human rights organization that monitors freedom of religion or belief, examined the government’s actions in a report published Sept. 9, as tensions between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration and the church leadership continue to deepen.

The group noted that Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party went into Armenia’s June parliamentary elections with a platform that called for the removal of Catholicos Karekin II and the election of a new leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

After the election, that objective became part of the government’s 2026-2031 program, approved by parliament on Aug. 25.

The program treats changes within the church as a matter of “spiritual security.” It calls for Karekin II to leave office, a temporary church leader, known as a locum tenens, to be selected and a new charter to be adopted.

Church leaders say those decisions belong solely to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Supreme Spiritual Council has argued that Armenia’s government has no constitutional authority to place the removal or election of a catholicos in its governing program. It has also challenged parliament’s authority to debate matters concerning the church’s internal administration.

Forum 18 highlighted Armenian laws that protect religious organizations from government interference. The Constitution guarantees their autonomy, while Armenia’s law on freedom of conscience establishes the separation of religious organizations and the state and bars authorities from interfering in their internal affairs when they operate within the law.

Separate legislation governing the Armenian Apostolic Church also recognizes its right to manage its own affairs.

Pashinyan’s office rejected the suggestion that the government intends to choose the church’s next leader.

“The state cannot and does not want to” appoint a catholicos, Pashinyan’s spokesperson, Melanya Harutyunyan, told Forum 18. She said that authority rests with the National Ecclesiastical Assembly.

Harutyunyan said the government instead wants the church’s governing institutions to operate according to their own rules. She pointed to the National Ecclesiastical Assembly, which has not convened since 1999 despite a requirement in the church charter that it meet at least once every seven years.

The dispute is unfolding alongside a criminal case involving Karekin II and six senior clerics who serve on the Supreme Spiritual Council.

They are accused of obstructing enforcement of a court decision ordering the reinstatement of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, the former head of the Masyatsotn Diocese.

If convicted, the church leaders could face up to two years in prison.

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