On October 21, by papal decree of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, Father Aram Asatryan was declared deposed. Political scientist Suren Sureniants wrote about this.
However, immediately after the decision was made public, former Father Aram, now former clergyman Stepan Asatryan, issued an open challenge, declaring that he was in Hovhannavank and did not intend to submit to the supreme authority of the Church.
Furthermore, he made a direct appeal to the faithful, inviting everyone to participate in the Holy and Immortal Liturgy on Sunday, which he intends to celebrate personally, even though he has already been deposed.
This is no longer disobedience.
This is a direct rebellion against the Armenian Church, an attempt to undermine our oldest and most important national institution from within.
If the information that Nikol Pashinyan has been invited to this liturgy and will likely attend is true, then what is happening has taken on an overtly political nature: we are witnessing the practical implementation of the very “spiritual assembly” that Pashinyan spoke of several months ago.
All this indicates that the government’s anti-church strategy has entered the stage of an open, frontal offensive.
The goal is clear and dangerous: using the disorganized clergy to split the Armenian Church, undermine its institutional integrity, and turn it into an instrument of Pashinyan’s policies,” he wrote.