In a statement on November 6, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin announced the defrocking of Father Taron Hunanian, a clergyman of the Tavush Diocese, citing violations of ecclesiastical rules and public conduct.
According to the statement, the decision followed a report from the acting head of the Tavush Diocese and the conclusions of the Mother See’s Committee on Awards and Disciplinary Matters.
The church said Father Hunanian had committed several violations, including “voluntarily leaving his assigned post in May 2024, ignoring repeated instructions and appeals from diocesan leadership, participating in an allegedly uncanonical ceremony organized by a previously defrocked cleric, Stepan Asatrian, publicly disparaging the Armenian Apostolic Church and fellow clergy, showing disrespect toward the church’s highest authority, and violating his oath of obedience.”
A senior clergyman suggested that the decision to defrock Father Hunanian was not solely related to his public criticism of church practices or his participation in the ceremony with Asatrian.
Father Samvel, acting head of the Tavush Diocese, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that a proposal to review Father Hunanian’s conduct had been submitted about a month before those incidents.
Father Hunanian, for his part, denied abandoning his post, saying he was on indefinite leave with the verbal approval of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, the leader of 2024 antigovernment protests who is currently on trial on coup charges.
Earlier, Father Hunanian had called on the Mother See’s disciplinary committee to review its own members’ conduct before taking action against him.
The defrocking of another priest in Armenia comes amid growing tensions between the Church and the State.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who says he is acting as a Christian and follower of the Church, has called on Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II to resign, accusing him of violating his oath of celibacy by fathering a child. Pashinian has also expressed support for Asatrian by attending a sermon conducted by the defrocked priest at a medieval monastery about 30 kilometers northwest of Yerevan that Asatrian has refused to leave.
The Armenian Apostolic Church has described Asatrian’s services as a “soul-destroying enterprise,” accusing Pashinian of attempting to “split the Church.”
Last Sunday, Armenian law-enforcement authorities arrested the brother and nephew of Catholicos Garegin II on suspicion of obstructing an election campaign of a pro-government party in the Vagharshapat community, which is set to hold a closely contested local ballot on November 16.
Critics of Pashinian regard the arrests as part of what they describe as government pressure on Catholicos Garegin II to resign.