Harutyunyan denies any campaign against Armenian Church

PanARMENIAN.Net - Arayik Harutyunyan, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia, stated that there is no campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church. Addressing recent controversies surrounding clergy, he said such discussions arise naturally as other issues are resolved or addressed.

“We’ve long said that when the Church involves itself in political matters, it should also be prepared to face political scrutiny. That’s exactly what is happening now,” Harutyunyan told ilurer.am.

When asked if the government was interfering in personal matters, Harutyunyan said no personal lives were being targeted. Instead, he claimed the issues being raised—such as clerical celibacy—pertain solely to the Church’s own institutional framework.

“The questions raised by the Prime Minister remain within this context—will there be clear answers to these questions, yes or no?” he said.

On whether such criticism harms both the Church and the state, Harutyunyan responded that the government believes these discussions contribute to the Church’s institutional health.

Asked what actions the authorities might take if the Church does not respond, he said any steps would be in line with the law and constitution.

He declined to name individuals involved, stressing that he has no intention of interfering in anyone’s private life.

When asked whether these actions could be perceived as a campaign against the Church, he firmly rejected that notion: “There is no process targeting the Church.”

Regarding concerns about the Church’s influence on elections due to its high public trust, Harutyunyan said such speculation has emerged amid recent developments. He urged caution in interpreting public opinion polls and stressed the need to distinguish between trust in the institution and attitudes toward individual clergy members.

“I can confidently say that if a poll listed individual clergy members, the results would show a vastly different picture,” he said.

Harutyunyan also recalled that during the 2021 election, the Church, led by the Catholicos, openly campaigned against the ruling Civil Contract party. “The public gave its answer to the Catholicos and his supporters,” he said, noting that institutional trust in the Church was no lower then than in 2024.

He concluded by urging the public to separate the Church as an institution from the individuals within it.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently made several inflammatory Facebook posts targeting the Church after clergy criticized his remark comparing churches to storage sheds. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, also joined in. Posts included phrases like “go keep banging your uncle’s wife” and “the country’s top pedophiles.” Pashinyan argued that the state must play a central role in the selection of the Catholicos and questioned whether Karekin II had remained celibate.

In response, the Mother See stated that such actions serve the agenda of external anti-Armenian forces and align with Azerbaijani propaganda targeting the Armenian people and Church.