- Mr. Khajakyan, Nikol Pashinyan today reconfirmed that on Sunday at Hovhannavank he will participate in a liturgy served by the defrocked Ter Aram. Is the tension between the government and the Church entering a new phase, considering this incident?

- Obviously, Nikol Pashinyan, from his position as Prime Minister, is interfering in the affairs of the Church by declaring Karekin Vehapar to be defrocked, for which he has no moral, political, or legal right. By using the capabilities of the law enforcement system, he is trying to form a parallel church with "Pashinyan-style" regulations.

From the podium of the National Assembly, Pashinyan decided that a priest who has already been defrocked can serve a liturgy. We should not be surprised if one day Ruben Rubinyan serves a liturgy in another church. This is absurd; this is an attempt to drive a wedge into the Church. Naturally, the consequences of all this will be severe for all of us, because this split in the Church will deepen, as certain clergymen will try to solve problems within the ecclesiastical hierarchy through the power of the individuals in the state administration machine. They will try to dismantle the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and naturally, they will gain nothing in return. We will end up with one more national structure in a state of disunity, similar to the Diaspora.

- Is this what Nikol Pashinyan is striving for?

- I believe the goal is very narrowly political: he is trying to break all pockets of resistance in the run-up to the 2026 elections, and Nikol Pashinyan is very little concerned with the cost. Pashinyan is trying to destroy all those structures where his government does not inspire confidence or faith.

- Mr. Khajakyan, can this step by Nikol Pashinyan be described as a subversion of the constitutional order, because the Constitution states that the state cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the Church, and the Church cannot interfere in the affairs of the state?

- Yes, essentially, Pashinyan is now appointing someone as a cleric whom the Church has ecclesiastically defrocked. This is simply absurd.

- How likely do you consider a split in the Church?

- I consider it very likely. We are seeing separate episodes of this in these days, but if Pashinyan also proceeds to file a criminal case against the Vehapar and isolates him from the Holy See, the schism will deepen further.

This is a very probable scenario, which is what Pashinyan is pursuing. He is trying to break the homogeneity of the Church. Pashinyan is trying to form a parallel church because he is unable to effect change within the Church.

We will see the parallel church on Sunday, which is outside of ecclesiastical regulations. And that, for me, is already a sect. Therefore, Pashinyan is trying to form a new sect, and he is the ideologue of that sect, because he is the one who decides who is defrocked and who is not.

Kristine Aghabekyan

The full material: https://medialab.am/307001/