Armenian Apostolic Holy Church Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On January 27, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, a meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council was held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The session was chaired by His Eminence Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, President of the Monastic Council of the Mother See.

 
The meeting opened with the Lord’s Prayer, after which His Holiness expressed his appreciation and bestowed his blessing upon the members of the Council. The agenda included matters concerning canonical, administrative, and disciplinary aspects of Church life.
 
Reports were presented on the unlawful detention of clergy, criminal proceedings initiated against a national benefactor, ongoing court cases and issued verdicts, as well as repressive measures applied to clergy. The reports were delivered by Ara Zohrabyan, Lawyer and PhD of Legal Sciences, and attorneys Arsen Babayan and Hovhannes Khudoyan.
 
It was emphasized that the charges brought against the clergy and the preventive measures applied were based on unlawful and legally unsound circumstances, and from a legal standpoint, do not comply with the fundamental principles of legality and fair trial. The measures were found to be selective and discriminatory in nature.
 
The Supreme Spiritual Council strongly condemned all forms of pressure exerted on clergy in the exercise of their ministry, noting that such actions constitute a blatant violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia, representing ongoing and troubling trends.
 
The participants of the session deemed unlawful actions carried out with the involvement of state and law enforcement agencies, as well as unconstitutional interference in the internal life of the Church, unacceptable.
 
The Supreme Spiritual Council expressed gratitude to the lawyers for their consistent and significant efforts in protecting the rights of clergy and the detained sons of the Armenian people.
 
The Council also examined the matter of a canonical offense committed by the former Primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan. It was noted that by challenging the Patriarchal directive, which released him from his position as diocesan head and ordered his return to the Mother Monastery, he effectively violated his vow of obedience. He subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, seeking reinstatement to his diocesan office.
 
The Supreme Spiritual Council strongly condemned the slanderous accusations made by Bishop Gevorg in his public speeches and statements against the Mother See, his fellow clergy, and the Catholicos of All Armenians, regarding such behavior as a gross violation of church order, canonical obedience, and ecclesiastical unity. The Council recommended that the Catholicos of All Armenians defrock Bishop Gevorg Saroyan.
 
Doctor of Law, Professor Gevorg Danielyan, presented a report on bills under consideration in the National Assembly relating to the Church. In particular, he addressed legislative initiatives concerning land and historical-cultural monuments that contradict fundamental provisions of existing civil and sectoral legislation, violate basic principles of property rights, and raise unfounded concerns about a purported threat of alienation of sacred monuments by the Armenian Church.
 
The report emphasized that these legislative initiatives are unjustified on regulatory grounds, are not aimed at preserving pristine holy sites and spiritual-cultural monuments, do not address any significant public concerns, and primarily serve to foster and deepen anti-Church sentiments.
 
The position of the Supreme Spiritual Council is that the alienation of sacred monuments should be completely prohibited, regardless of the form of ownership.
During the meeting, issues related to the organization of the Episcopal Council, convened by the Catholicos of All Armenians in the city of St. Pölten (Austria), were also discussed. It was decided to form an organizational committee to coordinate preparatory and logistical work.
 
The meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council concluded with the blessing of the Catholicos of All Armenians and the recitation of the “Guardian” Prayer (Pahpanich).