Armenia's liberal government has never been an ally of the deeply conservative Armenian Apostolic Church, but when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made unusual accusations against an unnamed priest, it created further division.
"Your Holiness, go and have fun with your uncle's wife. What do you want from me?" Pashinyan said.
He also accused the supreme head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Karekin II, of breaking his vow of celibacy and having a child, calling on him to resign.
The BBC reached out to the Church for comment but did not receive a response.
So far, the Church and the government have found ways to cooperate, but this conflict could further divide the already polarized Armenian society and affect the outcome of next year's elections.
The conflict could also jeopardize peace talks that could reshape the entire South Caucasus region, following Armenia's defeat in the war against Azerbaijan.
Armenia is believed to have been the first country to make Christianity its state religion when its king was baptized in 301 AD.
Although there is a legal separation of Church and State, the Armenian Constitution recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church "as the national Church".
The church did not comment on the allegations, but said the prime minister had tried to "silence" it.
She reiterated that the government has no say when it comes to the governance of the Church.
If true, Pashinyan's claim would make Karekin II unfit for the position he holds.
According to church rules, only monks who have taken a vow of celibacy can be elected as Catholicos, or head.
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Based on this, Pashinyan is demanding Karekin's resignation, regardless of the fact that he has no jurisdiction over the Church.
The Armenian Prime Minister did not present any evidence, but threatened to publish it.
Pashinyan also attacked other high-ranking priests, and accused one bishop of having an affair, with the unusual claim that he was "dating" his own uncle's wife.
Opposition parties and two former presidents of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Serzh Sargsyan, condemned Pashinyan.
The government's relationship with the Church deteriorated after defeat in the 2023 war against neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, when Karekin the Second joined calls from various political influences asking the Prime Minister to resign.
Pašinjan remained in power, and the Church became a prominent anti-government voice.
Recently, Karekin II demanded the right of return for Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that Azerbaijan recaptured in 2023.
The prime minister's allies are unhappy with such interventions, as they contradict the government's position in the ongoing peace talks.
Pashinyan advocates for a quick peace agreement in which both countries would give up their mutual demands.
However, Azerbaijani media used the demands of the nationalist opposition as evidence that Armenia was not ready for peace.
Key concepts to understand
- Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox, or ancient Eastern, churches.
- The Armenian Church, along with other Oriental Orthodox churches, advocates a Miaphysite Christology, respects the original Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, advocates Orthodox pneumatology, and does not recognize the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Filioque.
- Nowadays, within the unified Armenian Apostolic Church there are two Catholic: Catholicosate of All Armenians, with its center in Etchmiadzin, and Cilician, with headquarters in Antilias, Lebanon.
- With the administrative independence of the Catholicos of Cilicia, the precedence of honor is given to the Catholicos of All Armenians, who bears the title of Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
- Title "catholic" is not a synonym for "patriarch" (the highest hierarchical rank) but represents the highest spiritual degree. The existence of several independent catholicosates does not indicate disunity within one Church, since in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church there were examples of the simultaneous existence of five catholicosates.
- The unity of the Armenian Apostolic Church is reflected in the person of the Catholicos of All Armenians as the successor of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.
- Under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of All Armenians are all dioceses on the territory of Armenia, as well as a large number of dioceses throughout the world. Under the rule of the Catholicos of Cilicia are the dioceses of Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.
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The Armenian Church has benefited from becoming a center of dissent, attracting those dissatisfied with the government.
Political analysts in Armenia believe this could be the real reason for the government's sudden attack on the church leader.
The next elections are scheduled for June 2026, and the campaign against the Church could be interpreted as a preemptive strike against the stronghold of the conservative opposition.
The Prime Minister also linked his own position to politics.
"We have returned the state to the people, now we must return the Church to the people," he said.
When a powerful benefactor supported the Church this week, the government quickly moved against him.
Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan has threatened to "intervene in the campaign against the Church in his own way" if opposition politicians do not defend it.
A few hours later, his residence was raided, and he was subsequently accused of "calling for the overthrow of the government."
He denies the allegations.
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The conflict between the Armenian political and spiritual leaders is a very sensitive issue far beyond the country's borders, as the Church has hundreds of parishes in the diaspora, across Russia and Ukraine to Western Europe, the Middle East and America.
While rumors of the alleged secret Karekin family have long circulated in the tabloids, for years parishes in the diaspora have made more serious allegations.
They claimed that church leaders were extorting monthly payments and administering dioceses that had previously enjoyed autonomy.
In 2013, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem accused Karekin II of not caring about spiritual values and only caring about the material well-being of the Church.
The Church said the accusations were false.
Until recently, Nikol Pashinyan did not start conflicts.
"I believe that the government should not deal with the internal affairs of the Church," he said shortly after taking office in 2018.
After years of honoring this promise, the Prime Minister may have changed his mind.
Whatever the outcome of this dispute, it is likely to deepen divisions in a society already divided, not only by political conflicts, but also by unresolved questions of whether to ally with Russia or the West, as well as tensions between the people of Armenia and the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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