Zareh Sinanyan, the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, told reporters at the government building that there are clear "problems related to the Church's leadership," which are also "evident to a sensitive part of the Diaspora."

When asked whether public remarks at the prime ministerial level about the Church and the Catholicos amount to an attack on the Armenian Apostolic Church, Sinanyan responded that "the Church is harmed by those who disregard its internal regulations," according to RFE/RL.

"Such discussions cannot damage the Church; it is harmed by individuals who, being part of the hierarchy, discredit and ignore its internal rules," he said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to clerical criticism of his comment likening churches to storage rooms during a cabinet session, made offensive statements toward clergy. He published several Facebook posts, echoed by his wife Anna Hakobyan, calling the clergy “the country’s top pedophiles.” Pashinyan also argued that the state should play a crucial role in the election of the Catholicos of All Armenians. In another post, he questioned whether Catholicos Karekin II had remained faithful to his celibacy vow.

The Prime Minister wrote: “If it turns out that Karekin II has indeed broken his vow of celibacy and has a child, then he cannot serve as Catholicos of All Armenians, because from the moment such a fact exists, he could not have remained a celibate priest.”

The Mother See responded that “these condemnable actions serve the goals of anti-Armenian foreign forces, aligning to some extent with Azerbaijani propaganda against the Armenian people and the Church.”