Former priests Father Aram (now Stepan Asatryan) and Father Tade (now Aramayis Tahmazyan) have filed a lawsuit against the Armenian Apostolic Church.
We have received information from the Datalex judicial information system that two lawsuits filed against the Armenian Apostolic Church, challenging the patriarchal decrees of the Catholicos of All Armenians, have been accepted for consideration by the Armavir Regional Court of General Jurisdiction.
Specifically, Aramayis Tahmazyan, former spiritual pastor of the Talin region, has filed a lawsuit demanding that the patriarchal decree of His Holiness Karekin II, dated December 2, 2025, declaring him removed from office, be declared invalid.
The lawsuit also demands his reinstatement as spiritual pastor of the Talin region. The case has been assigned to Judge Hovhannes Pargev Melkonyan, and the defendant is the religious organization “Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.”
The same court also accepted another lawsuit in which Stepan Asatryan, former spiritual pastor of St. Hovhannes Church, demands the invalidation of Patriarchal Decree No. 1042 of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, dated October 21, 2025, declaring him removed from office. The lawsuit also demands his reinstatement as spiritual pastor of St. Hovhannes Church.
This case has been assigned to Judge Sima Levon Abovyan, and the defendant is the religious organization “Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.”