Catholicos Meets with Clergy After Detentions

On October 16, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, met with the clergy of the Aragatsotn Diocese, offering his blessing and encouragement to the priests who were detained by law enforcement bodies on October 15. This was reported by the information system of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

It is recalled that from the early morning of October 15, the Investigative Committee, accompanied by the National Security Service, conducted searches in the homes of a number of clergymen of the Aragatsotn Diocese, as well as in the Aragatsotn Diocesan headquarters itself. Three individuals, including the primate of the diocese, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, were arrested.

On October 16, the diocesan primate was arrested for 2 months, and the chancellor of the diocese, Father Garegin Arsenyan, for 1 month. The primate of the Aragatsotn Diocese is the son of the sister of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

The Investigative Committee initiated the proceedings based on a report from the "Union of Informed Citizens" NGO, which related to a statement made by Father Aram Asatryan, the spiritual pastor of Hovhannavank, on Public Television. The priest had said that he participated in the 2021 opposition rallies not of his own free will, but by the order of his superior. Considering that compelling participation in a rally is an act punishable under the Criminal Code, the "Union of Informed Citizens" had requested an investigation.