Vahagn Aleksanyan, a member of the National Assembly from the ruling Civil Contract faction, responded on Facebook to recent criticism of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan by several members of the clergy. The backlash came after Pashinyan’s comparison of churches to storage rooms, which was followed by further controversial statements.

Referring to the clergy’s response, Aleksanyan wrote: “What do some clergymen propose? We get to call you a lunatic, a madman, and you’re supposed to talk about us respectfully.”

He continued: “We violate the Constitution by engaging in politics, curse and insult you, yet expect you to speak about us respectfully. We break our vow of celibacy to target your traditional family, but you must show us respect. We turn the Mother See into an election headquarters, hang posters inside churches, curse you repeatedly—and still demand respect from you. That’s when you say, ‘Sorry, Major, but no.’”

In a follow-up post, Aleksanyan added: “We’re not saints. Despite vows of celibacy, we have wives, children, families. Yet we go around calling everyone names, hurling insults from our ‘holy’ platforms. But just because of that, we don’t expect anyone to confront us? Are you not anti-Church traitors yourselves?” he wrote, summarizing the apparent grievances voiced by “a group of baffling bishops.”

Prime Minister Pashinyan previously responded to the clergy’s criticism with offensive remarks, including posts on Facebook comparing churches to "storage rooms" and accusing clergymen of moral corruption. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, echoed those comments, writing: “The country’s chief pedophiles have gone mad over the word ‘storeroom.’ Of course, that’s how it should be. After all, storerooms are the dark corners of the lives of black-robed maniacs. It’s in the storerooms that perversions occur, which no longer even provoke the wrath of the faithful. The faithful people, long resigned, carry the country’s chief perverted maniacs on their shoulders.”