Armenian Apostolic Holy Church Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

In recent times, the issue of so-called “unwarranted” defrockings during the primatial ministry of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch has been unnecessarily exploited, with inflated and distorted figures being circulated in the public domain.

 
The factual situation is as follows: over the 26 years of the archpastoral ministry of His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, a total of 101 clergymen were defrocked, including Stepan Asatryan, Vardan Hunanian, and Aramais Takhmazian.

Of these:

38 left the clerical ministry upon their own request,
27 voluntarily abandoned their place of service,
15 were defrocked based on petitions submitted by diocesan primates,
21 were defrocked directly by the decision of His Holiness the Catholicos.

It should be noted that in 2011, at the initiative of His Holiness, a Commission on Awards and Disciplinary Matters was established to examine similar cases involving members of the clergy.
 
Over the 26 years of the Catholicos’ primatial ministry, 491 clergymen have been ordained and continue to serve in the dioceses of Armenia and the Diaspora.