Under the leadership of Catholicos Aram I, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia convened an online meeting of the Cilicia analytical platform, where participants expressed deep concern over the Armenian authorities’ behavior toward the Church. A formal statement was adopted.

“The assembly expressed profound concern about the atmosphere created in Armenia following questions raised by government officials regarding senior clergy. It was deemed unacceptable that such issues are being raised and discussed in a manner that does not offer solutions but instead fuels internal societal tension,” the statement read.

The meeting also addressed the conference held in Bern dedicated to the preservation of Artsakh’s spiritual and cultural heritage.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to criticism from clerics following his comparison of churches to storage rooms during a cabinet meeting, made several offensive remarks towards clergy. Pashinyan further claimed the state must play a central role in the selection of the Catholicos of All Armenians. In another post, he questioned whether Catholicos Karekin II truly upheld his vow of celibacy.

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responded that such condemnable acts serve anti-Armenian foreign forces and align with Azerbaijani propaganda aimed at defaming the Armenian people and Church.

Following this, Pashinyan called for the Armenian Apostolic Church to have a newly elected Catholicos and urged church followers to unite in “liberating the Catholicosate with love and Christian spirit” and electing a truly sacred cleric as the next Catholicos of All Armenians.