Archbishop Hovnan Terteryan, head of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, has issued a detailed explanation for his decision to support the “Church Reform” initiative. He described the reform as an “urgent necessity” rooted in centuries of tradition and ecclesiastical responsibility.

He pointed out that Church councils since the 5th century have addressed issues such as internal discipline, pastoral service, spiritual education, and governance. However, today’s crisis, he argues, stems from serious ethical and structural failures at the top.

Terteryan listed the following concerns:

1. The Catholicos ignored the conclusions of a committee he himself created and covered up an indecent incident involving Archbishop Arshak.
2. He allegedly forced a defrocked priest — the brother of a fallen soldier — and his grieving mother to participate in an opposition protest against the government.
3. The Catholicos has not addressed public claims that he violated his vow of celibacy and fathered a child.
4. He remained silent after Armenia’s National Security Service presented evidence suggesting his brother, Archbishop Ezras, was a foreign agent.
5. The Mother See under his leadership continues to operate in a non-transparent and unaccountable manner.
6. Despite chairing a reform committee that worked with bishops on drafting new statutes, those reforms were shelved as the National Ecclesiastical Assembly was never convened.
7. In the absence of church statutes, the Catholicos has taken a unilateral approach to governance, forming superficial committees loyal only to him.
8. He has politicized the Church by opposing the state's peace agenda.
9. The Mother See, under his order, has allegedly run underground media campaigns to discredit critics.
10. This misguided leadership has weakened the Church and distanced it from the people, leaving them vulnerable to sectarian influence.
11. Most critically, his anti-state stance and confrontational behavior are unacceptable.

“These are the primary reasons that led us to support the Armenian Apostolic Church reform program,” the archbishop concluded.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, along with bishops and archbishops calling for the Catholicos’s resignation, recently issued a public statement urging people to join the reform process. Pashinyan read the statement during a Facebook livestream, after which it was signed by the supporting clergy. He also announced the formation of a coordinating council responsible for organizing reforms. The council may be expanded only through unanimous consent.

A roadmap for Church reform has been released, outlining the following steps: public promotion of the reform agenda; removal of the Church’s de facto head; election of a locum tenens; adoption of new Church charter; and election of a new Catholicos.